10-15 lights were seen in the sky south of Valier, MT

At about 21:00 hrs on the night of October 18, 2000, about 10 to 15 multi-colored lights ranging from blue to yellow were seen in the sky south of where i live.  The lights seemed to all be centered in one place.  I thought they were only stars, that is until they broke from the group and went of north, west, and east.  In a mere matter of minutes they were out of sight.  The lights would blink very rapidly, but i was unable to time the gap between flashes.