Whoops

From the "Oh shit!" department, they had a small problem in San Diego on the night of the Fourth of July; ABC News reports:

One of the nation’s biggest July 4th firework displays turned into a 15-second bust after a “premature ignition” caused pyrotechnics spread across five barges in the San Diego Bay to go off all at once.

Thousands of onlookers had spent their July 4^th camped out along San Diego’s beaches and parks Wednesday to catch a glimpse of the city’s 12^th annual Big Bay Boom fireworks display, billed by organizers this year as being “bigger and more intense than in past years.”

The big show was expected to start at 9 p.m. and last 18 minutes but at 8:55 p.m., onlookers heard an explosion of booms and looked up to see what appeared to be a fire in the sky, but was actually the fireworks, just not in the breathtaking, coordinated display that organizers had spent months planning.

After 15 seconds the music continued, but the light show ended.  The abrupt start and stop left people wondering if that was really what they had waited hours to see.

And thanks to YouTube, here's the action, or the lack thereof:

Apparently, a "technical malfunction" is to blame; isn't that a bit like "I'm from the council and I'm here to help"?. Still, it's probably the most talked-about conclusion to Independence Day 2012, even if it is for all the wrong reasons!