orange firey ball rising from ground up into sky

3 friends and i were walking in the woods one eve. about 1 mile from town, we were all about 15-16 yrs. of age. i remember hearing some strange noises in the brush beside us but i don`t recall if it was after or before we saw the object, i remember seeing a large orange firey ball sitting on the ground and starting to rise slowly, it was larger than a beach ball and seemed to be less tha 100 ft. away, i recall hiding behind a pine tree and watching it rise slowly srraight up no sound, as it rose it changed from orangish red to white, and it`s diameter decreased as it rose, untill it looked like a star moving across the sky. after it rose we all came out of our hiding places talked about it and went back to town, funny it seemed kind of late when we got back ,