In Toyko, Beijing, Tehran, and Moscow, the stroke of midnight is accompanied by silence, darkness, and confusion. In Paris, the city of light disappears behind the dark veil enveloping the globe. As the millennium races across the Atlantic, a rising tide of panic overtakes the United States. Alarm creeps into the voices of television anchormen. Civil defense sirens puncture the night sky.
Parents grope for children, husbands for wives.
In New York, parties disband early and revelers flee the city en masse. The bridges and tunnels congeal into a solid mass of vehicles, making escape impossible. The ball makes its descent. And the lights go out. Bergen Record Corp.