Orange orb flew silently overhead, flickered, then went out; replace by black object.

A bright orange orb crossed the sky at what appeared to be a relatively constant speed and elevation. I estimate the elevation was 500 to 1000 feet.  The flight path was straight. It was completely silent. It was the size of a pea held at arms length.  The light was very orange, and kind of dancing; like plasma.  At times, a small more defined and brighter center point of light was visible within the larger object.
 In the last minute of observation, the light vanish and reappeared a couple of times, keeping the same flight path.  Also during this last minute, the overall shape was morphing more; at one point looking like a cone.  Before disappearing behind trees, the light went out completely; but at that instant a larger black object was briefly visible.  I'm pretty sure this was not retinal fatigue, but an actual black object.  We all saw this.  Although it was nighttime, the black object was visible against the dark sky, but only for 2 to 3 seconds before it went behind trees.