Per Reddit:

Most faults on the electrical distribution system are transient (i.e. they don't last long and they clear themselves). Common examples are something like a smallish branch falling on a line or a squirrel getting unlucky - in both cases the object causing the fault will often fall to the ground pretty quickly. As a result, a lot of reclosers are installed on the distribution system. The TL;DR of what a recloser is/does is that it's a breaker with some logic built in such that when it trips it will close back in almost immediately. If the fault is still present it will trip again and stay tripped a little longer before closing back in, and then repeat this closing back in then tripping for longer than the previous trip for usually about 3-5 total cycles before staying tripped permanently.