cigar shaped low flying after heavy snow storm

I was released from the army on February 9, 1973. I drove a fellow enlisted man to his home in Birmingham.  The south was blanketed by a huge snow storm that was causing many people to avoid the roads.  I was from Iowa and used to driving in snow.  It was an all-night drive to Baton Rouge to see my brother on the way home.  The clouds were very low and it had stopped snowing after I departed Birmingham.  I was almost alone on interstate 20 in rural Alabama.  When I saw clearly a cigar shaped object, under the low clouds, flying back and forth over a large area.  It was very clearly visible.  
I completely froze while driving and have not been that scared before or since.
Before this encounter, I had graduated in the bottom ten percent of my high school class and had accepted that I would be a labor the rest of my adult life.  After this date, I attended a state university earning both undergraduate and graduate degrees and passed the CPA exam prior to graduating.
Although I have no idea if this encounter had anything to do with changing my life, my life was changed dramatically after this event.