Northern Lights seen in Massachusetts during severe geomagnetic storm

GREENFIELD - There was a rare but brilliant sight for some in Massachusetts Thursday night. A powerful geomagnetic storm brought the northern lights much farther south than usual, giving people as far away as Washington, D.C. a glimpse of the aurora borealis.

The northern lights are caused when solar energy from the sun collides with the Earth's magnetic field. The unexpected solar storm was rated a G4 on a scale that goes up to G5. 

Kalpesh Krishna captured the dazzling colors appearing over UMass Amherst.

"You see the bright green and pink on the horizon," WBZ-TV meteorologist Jacob Wycoff said. "This is one of the best geomagnetic storms that I've seen in quite a long time - and it's kind of been a surprise one."

Owen Darling snapped photos of the "crazy sight" in Greenfield just after 11 p.m.