Orange line of light seen travelling from the south in southern Illinois leaves burned remains of a tree.

I observed an orange line of light slowly moving across the sky from the south.  My bedroom widow faced the south. I was doing homework, reading a book when motion outside caught my attention.  When I looked up I saw an orange line moving slowly across the sky from the south.  I ran outside to the front of the house and called for my older brother who then joined me.  The light which must have been approximately 100 feet in the air left its reflection on our pond as it moved over our feild.  It was a perfectly clear evening, you could see the backdrop of stars perfectly.  The orange line, which must have been 20 yards in length and perfectly quiet, then stopped moving when it was approximately 1/2 mile to the north of our house and sat straight down until it was out of view.  We waited for what seemed like a long time, but could only have been several minutes, looking in that direction when it arose from behind the trees/houses everything else that was blocking our view. The object then started to the west what seemed for a few minutes and then just shot off to the north and disappeared.  The next day when by brothers and I reached our bus stop the large maple or oak tree that had stood behind a neighbor's house was burnt to a stump. I have with-held telling this account of what happened so many years ago because of the stigmata that surrounds these events, but I remember it like it was yesterday.  I only wish to know if anyone else during that year spotted an object like the one I did during that time and place.