What was that?

[pentium]

I know I am a little late to mention but this happened at the exact moment the atomic clock hit midnight for us in BC. Suddenly the lights go out (and knock out another 2000 homes). They then come back on. Sounds like nothing special.
My sister was on her way home when the incident occured. The highway has beside it the main power lines and during the time the lights went out, The radio signal in the car was completely knocked out. When it returned a minule later, the signal came back clear and crisp. What would you say? Surge in the lines? Dirty switchover at substation?
It's late, I gotta go reset my clock.

[linuxguru]

Re: What was that?

Could be a Solar flare / Auroral event - it depends on how far North these effects were seen and over how wide an area. The midnight time might just be a coincidence.

[arneson]

Re: What was that?

The day the Earth stood still,
Dork, Nicktoe, Barabus.

[kc8adu]

Re: What was that?

aliens recharging their ship?
probably some switchover glitch.

[willawake]

Re: What was that?

mikey switched on his new folding system

[stretch0069]

Re: What was that?

not yet.....waiting for the quads

[pentium]

Re: What was that?

damnit, it just did it again!

[WNG]

Re: What was that?

I know this is an old post, but I think what you experienced was a bad generator switchover, and caused the substations to trip off.
Sounds like it was scheduled since it occurred exactly at midnight.
If the generators aren't all at 60 Hz (north american), it'll cause all sorts of trouble.