On Thursday night, at about a quarter after 9 p.m. Eastern, an especially enterprising night sky opted to treat the residents of New York City to a surprise light show. A series of tremendous bright flashes rendered the whole sky bright blue just above the neighborhood of Astoria (an area on the western end of Queens, where All in the Family takes place and where you can get the best Mediterranean food in the metropolitan area), but reached eyes across the East River into Manhattan and down south in Brooklyn. The consensus: It was freaky as hell. Take a look:Here’s a shot from the vantage point of Manhattan: