Possibly observed a "mother ship" with three smaller craft darting about it.

At the time I was by myself in the back yard of a friend whose home was at the foot of the Rocky Mountains. Skies were clear with just a few wispy clouds. While admiring the sun setting over the mountains, I noticed four bright spheres of light traveling due west at a high altitude and a fairly high rate of speed. Because the sun was reflecting off of the surface of these crafts, I could not make out any details. However, one craft was much larger than the other three and it traveled in a straight line. What made this sighting unusual was that the other three craft kept darting around the larger craft, which made no sense. Understand that I was in the Air Force at the time, and I worked at NORAD inside of Cheyenne Mountain where my group analyzed secret data about new satellite launces worldwide. At first when I observed these bright craft, I thought that three fighters were trailing behind a tanker plane to refuel. However, I soon realized that none of the craft were lining up behind the tanker. In addition, these craft as a group did not form either a V or diamond or box pattern, which is required by military law. Instead, the three smaller craft seemed as if they were "hotdogging," and at the rate of speed they were traveling and as close as they seemed grouped, this struck me as very dangerous. I watched these craft, scratching my head all the time, for three to five minutes until they disappeared over the mountain range. I later discussed this event with some of Air Force friends, but none of them did not see the event nor had they witnessed anything like it. This event prompted me to go out and by several books about UFO sightings. While paging through one of the books, I came across a chapter about "mother ships," and that they had been observed to have smaller craft darting around them. As soon as I read that, I realized that that was what I had witnessed. I will admit that it's possible that three fighters were hotdogging around a tanker, but I guarantee you if the pilots had been caught, they! would h ave been court-martialed.  By the way, I was in the Air Force for eight years, and though I witnessed hundreds of all types of aircraft in the skies, I never saw an event like I did on that one particular day.
Date is approximate.  PD