It may have seemed like a swarm of locusts bringing about the end of the world, but it was actually a swarm of dragonflies that took over Misquamicut Beach in Rhode Island this weekend.
Joanne Vandal, of Enfield, was on the beach when the swarm began.
"It was like a black cloud and what started as a couple hundred, was thousands and thousands of them," Vandal said.
Vandal said the dragonflies were suddenly everywhere, frightening some on the beach.
“The little kids were terrified. They were screaming. They had no idea what was going on. I guess it was scary -- everyone else just took out their phones and was like 'what was going on?' because it was so unnatural,” she said.
Vandal said the odd thing about it was that the insects were silent.
Get Tri-state area news delivered to your inbox. Sign up for NBC New York's News Headlines newsletter.
“There was no sound. There was no hum and it's interesting because I mentioned that to my friend, there was no buzz, there was no hum, there was no sound, it just happened," she said.
U.S. & World
The whole encounter lasted about three minutes and Vandal said just like that, the dragonflies were gone.
