Forty “Stars” In A Straight Line As They Headed Towards Mars from West to East

While viewing Mars, which still appears yellow.  I saw 40 “Stars” headed from the Southwest towards Mars.  Each light was of the same brightness and were on the same plain as Mars, but nowhere near as bright as Mars, yet easy to see with the naked eye.
 As they approached Mars, they were all equidistant from each other.  They then each disappeared as they reached Mars and didn’t reappear.  They all were on the same plain.  I held out my right hand.  I spread my index finger and pinky finger as far apart as I could with my right arm stretched out.  This is exactly how far apart they were from my view point.
 The sky was totally clear.  The moon had not risen yet.  My house is out in the middle of the woods and it is extremely dark.  I was actually outside looking at The Milky Way and listening for wolves when these mysterious “Stars” appeared in my field of view.  I have a large yard and there are no trees blocking the view.
 The lights came from the area of Saturn and Jupiter (Space App), but much higher off of the horizon.  Thus traveling West to East.
 I have seen satellites frequently which become brighter as they reflect sunlight to your location then quickly fade.  Mostly Bi-Polar in nature.  These lights were the same brightness the entire time they crossed the night sky—West to East.
 I cannot express my amazement enough.
 No pulsing or anything but the same brightness.  White in color.  They all looked exactly the same and in a straight line formation.
 I actually started counting as the fourth one “disappeared” as they headed directly to Mars.  They were on the same plain and didn’t deviate.  Very flat across the sky.  Forty “Stars”—Exactly.
 If they were aircraft, why did they disappear?