Deaglán de Bréadún at Stormont:You had to pinch yourself to make sure it was real. Was this happening or had someone put LSD in the coffee?
Were we seeing things or was Ian Paisley really sitting alongside the former adversary, Gerry Adams?
Were we hearing things or was the Big Man really making all those conciliatory statements?
The leader of the Democratic Unionist Party has a booming voice but yesterday it was the content of his remarks that made an impact. It was like the tolling of Big Ben, only much more portentous.
Bong! A date for the resumption of Stormont had been agreed with Sinn Féin. Bong! The DUP wanted the best future for "all" the people of Northern Ireland - which has to include nationalists.
Bong! The meeting with the former acolytes of Satan in Sinn Féin had been, wondrous to relate, "a constructive engagement".
Bong! There would be "regular meetings" between the DUP leader and Martin McGuinness to prepare for their jobs as first and deputy first minister.
The DUP leader has a penchant for quoting the Good Book but his pronouncements yesterday might yet earn "Big Ben" Paisley the status of a political prophet.
Who would have predicted this final twist in the career of Ulster's number one fire-and- brimstone preacher, "Doctor No" himself, the man whose middle name was "Never"?
Paisley was a hard act to follow yesterday but the Sinn Féin leader did his best. The Adams speech had been discreetly circulated to reporters beforehand so there were no surprises.
There was the usual sprinkling of quotes in Irish but for the benefit of his new partners, Gerry helpfully translated "Tús maith leath na hoibre" into "A good start is half the work".
The two men were sitting close together and, at the end, Adams looked expectantly at Paisley, like an eager but nervous suitor on a first date, clearly hoping for some physical contact to round off their brief but heady encounter - but the handshake was not forthcoming. Maybe some other time. Even hard-boiled journalists who had seen many false dawns were impressed.
Spines that had been crooked over typewriters and laptops for years, cranking out bad-news stories about the Troubles, felt a little tingling of excitement and anticipation. For once the remark about "History in the making" had real substance.
At a press conference later, Peter Hain looked like a man who had won the political equivalent of the Lotto. Reporters taunted him about his threat of "devolution or dissolution" by March 26th. Hain didn't care and replied, in effect: Deadline, schmedline, I've got the ancient enemies talking and soon they'll be moving in together, thank you very much.
On a day that two estranged communities finally sealed a peace deal, it seemed somehow appropriate that the politician overseeing the process at local level was South African and had come into politics as a campaigner against apartheid.
The Northern Secretary doesn't do emotion in public but he came close to it yesterday.
"Those pictures of Ian Paisley and Gerry Adams will resonate around the world," he said. "We saw something today that people never, ever thought would happen."
Now there's even talk of "Paisley: The Movie", with reports that Hollywood is getting in on the act and looking at fellow Ballymena man Liam Neeson for the title-role. But it's not time to wrap up the script just yet. Hard talking will take place between now and the new devolution deadline of May 8th.
Remember, Northern Ireland has a history of taking two steps forward, one step back. But whatever happens, nobody who was there on the day will quickly forget March 26th.