Distant light flew in, paused in the air for half a second, then accelerated away at an incredible speed.

I am a 41 year old, retired Army Intelligence Officer with 21 years of active duty service living in Fayetteville, NC.
I was on my porch at 11:22 pm Christmas Eve when I looked up as a small flash of light caught my attention. A distant, white light flew from east to west at incredible speed creating a light trail behind it. The light then stopped instantly and paused for half a second at high altitude before accelerating westward and seemingly upward into space creating another light trail behind it as it vanished. There was no sound from the object and the entire event occured in perhaps two seconds within a relatively small area in the visible sky.
To me, it looked as though "something" had simply dropped in for a quick look before taking off at or near light speed.