The U.S. Capitol dome went dark Wednesday night as a power surge hit the building, according to Fox 5 in Washington, D.C.

Capitol Police say they aren't sure what caused the surge.

The lights inside the Capitol remained on, but the exterior lighting illuminating the dome went out for about 25 minutes, according to Fox News reporter Chad Pergram.

This stunning shot shows the Capitol dome without lights:

Now: U.S. Capitol plunged into darkness as power outage hits Washington D.C. pic.twitter.com/chYZ2UAU39 — BuzzFeed Storm (@BuzzFeedStorm) March 13, 2014

Compare that to this photo of the Capitol with the lights back on:

Update: Power has been restored to U.S. Capitol dome after outage in Washington pic.twitter.com/uJ1cQc4TY6 — BuzzFeed Storm (@BuzzFeedStorm) March 13, 2014

The brief power outage also changed the view from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial looking out onto the Washington Monument (the Capitol is directly behind the monument):