Stationary White light changing from steady burn to strobe(rapid multiple) flashing to normal (single slow) flashing behind clouds.

We were camping on a levee Campground along the Atchafalaya River.  8 people ranging in age from 17 to mid 60s were gathered around the picnic table talking and relaxing.  Sky was partly cloudy and was cool about mid 60s to high 50s.  The 17 year old saw a strobing/flashing light in the sky behind cloud cover NNE direction.  Object was stationary and had a random pattern of flashing...strobe, steady on to normal flashing to strobe.   There was no set pattern.  It reminded some of us of lightning without the lightning bolt.   
After a few minutes it began a steady glow then left to the North/West direction very rapidly.  No noise was heard.  
A couple of us saw it through a friend's IR night scope and could see it was clearly behind the clouds.  We thought at first we were witnessing a search type light, but no beam was seen.  
We tried to replicate it with flashlights but you could always see the beam of light going up to the clouds.  I'd estimate it to be about 1 to 2 miles away.  I've seen barges use their large lights to search ahead of them and this didn't match those.  No city or town in the vicinity of the light.  Unknown height off the ground as we were on a river levee and had trees below the normal horizon line.