Organizers of a 4th of July Fireworks show in the San Diego bay said a technical malfunction was to blame for the accidental explosion of all the fireworks at once, an event marked by a huge flash in the sky.

A sudden burst of fireworks reportedly showed into the skyline at 8:55 p.m., five minutes before the event was scheduled to begin. The famous display known as "The Big Bay Boom" on San Diego's bay, was supposed to last for 20 minutes synchronized to a soundtrack but it reportedly lasted 15 seconds, according to NBC San Diego.

Thousands of people who were waiting around to see the show were told it had been canceled, NBC San Diego reported.

"We sincerely apologize for the technical glitch that affected the #BigBayBoom. Event producers are currently investigating the cause," Port District authorities of The Unified Port of San Diego said on Twitter.

The company that operates the fireworks, Garden State Fireworks, said it was not a malfunction of the pyrotechnics and it was not human error and it was “pretty confident” there was some sort of glitch in a computer program that was downloaded into all five systems coordinating the fireworks, NBC San Diego reported.

The company didn’t have backup plans if the fireworks ignite prematurely, according to the report.

Witnesses posted photos of the display on Instagram and one of the pictures shared (shown above) went viral collecting 11,000 likes. A video posted on YouTube called "The 2012 Big Bay Boom San Diego Firework Show" had more than 63,000 views as of Thursday.

Reactions to the sudden explosion included disappointment, jokes and those who saw the "bright" side of what happened.

"They were celebrating Higgs boson ;)," one person commented on a message board in the newspaper “The Atlantic.”

"Best part about Big Bay Boom fail is that EVERYONE has always wondered what would happen if all fireworks went off at once," a Twitter user wrote on his account Wednesday night.

"Omg. Tell me that did NOT just happen!? #bigbayboom OMFG!!! I'm almost in tears. People have been CAMPING out for HOURS in the cold..and OMG," another person wrote on Twitter.

No injuries were reported, according to NBC San Diego.

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Tags: holidays