Wondering what those fireworks that lit up the sky Thursday night were for? They were part of a celebration of the opening of a Canadian software security company’s new office in Rosslyn — and for most, they were a complete surprise.

Video of the display that made Oct. 5 look like the Fourth of July lit up social media.

“I thought, ‘Baseball is over, why am I seeing fireworks?’” D.C. resident J. Smith said with a shrug.

“Something good must have happened, so yea D.C.,” said Kelson Jayce, a visitor from California.

Representatives for Genetec said they’ve been working for this moment for a long time, and they wanted to celebrate with a bang.

But even the D.C. Council was kept in the dark about the pyrotechnics.

A representative for Pyrotecnico Fireworks, which staged the show, said they filed permit applications with all of the appropriate agencies — the Federal Aviation Administration, the U.S. Coast Guard, DC Harbor Patrol, D.C. Fire & EMS, and the bomb squad — but no one told D.C. Council, and spokespeople for D.C. fire and D.C. police said they knew nothing about it when News4 asked.

The Coast Guard even created a safety zone on the Potomac River where the fireworks were launched from a boat near the Kennedy Center.

“I thought it looked awesome,” said August Wager of California. “It was really exciting, and we’re on vacation, so it was cool to see it.”

Source: https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/surprise-fireworks-display-lights-up-dc-sky/3438338/