Two Bright Dots, moved simultaneously and faded

Sighting from backyard in Brunswick Forest development, Leland, NC (near Wilmington, NC)  Two bright dots in the sky between Mars and Neptune at 6:55pm approximately, December 5, 2020.
 The dots were aligned perpendicular to the line between Mars and Neptune. They were about the size that Mars appeared, but brighter than Mars. When I first looked up and saw the two dots positioned as they were, it looked like Orion’s Belt. Then I said, “hey wait a minute”, since there were only two stars! As I said that, the two stars dimmed to about the brightness of Mars. They were about an inch apart if I was to hold my hand up to the sky to guess distance.
 After they dimmed, they simultaneously moved about two “sky inches” from my position up and to the right. Then they rapidly faded from sight without moving location.
 It was a clear evening, mid 50s temperature, moon had not yet risen above my sight line. I was looking almost due south at the time. The “dots” were about 45 degrees up from the horizon. No sound.
 Observed by one adult female, aged 46. I’ve seen other craft over the years dating back into the 1990s.