Bright, multi-colored (mostly green and blue, but some red) flashes across the eastern horizon.

There was quite a storm blowing outside this particular night, with a great deal of precipitation.  My wife and I were watching television on Friday night.  My wife said she thought she saw lightning in the sky.  I did't think much of it until I turned the TV set off and with the room being darker, I saw a flash myself.  I didn't see it directly, because a building next door was blocking it.  I kept looking and seconds later, there were many flashes across the eastern portion of the sky, but they were colored!  I had never seen anything like it.  The display was so remarkable, that I was literally shaking with fear.  I called my wife back to the window and she observed several flashes with me.  Some were low enough that they silhouetted the I-5 bridge before us.  It had the appearance of fireworks being obscured by clouds, except for the fact that it covered a far too great portion of the sky. From our vantage point, we can see directly to the east, and a bit to the north, with limited views to the south due to buildings close by.  At least one flash appeared to have structure to it, almost like a laser beam.  But again, this display covered a VERY large portion of the sky.  After about ten minutes the flashes stopped.  I spoke with my neighbor and he and his housemate saw them as well.  I was so taken by the experience that I called the police to report it as it was happening.  They reported some transformers were exploding, but nothing that matched what I saw.  I work at NOAA, and spoke to a meteorologist about it, and he could not offer an explanation either.  I'll never forget what I saw.  It was spectacular. Thank you.