Firesball hovering over cornfeild,,looks like red/orande with molten dribble..goes back & forth across field and then rises and novas

My roommate and I had just finished moving into our dorm. We were sitting on the front steps. The sun was begining to set. It was a hot summer evening. Accross the street was a corn field. A fireball about the size of beach ball appeared to be hovering over the cornfield. At first we thought it was a firework, but it never disapated. It hovered in one spot with a molten dribble coming off of it, like a sparkler. Then it would move slowly to the other end of the field. It did that a couple times, and then came to the middle of the field. It then rose up about 12 ft and then it did like a super nova and took off really fast up into the sky. We had not been drinking,,nor did we do drugs. We werent going to say anything to anyone, but then we saw in the paper that same week, that a Dekalb Police squad had collided with a similar object. It cracked the windshield and bent the antenna.
It cracked his windsheild and bent his antenna. We kept it quiet all these years thinking noone would believe us.
My room mate and I had just finished moving into our dorm and sat outside on the front steps to catch our breaths. The sun was beginning to set, and it was a hot august evening. Across the street was a corn field. We were just sitting there when we saw a red/orange fireball appear over the corn field. It hovered in one place for a while and then it moved to the other end of the corn field. At first we thought it was a firework..but it didn't disapate. It just would hang there with a molten trickle coming off of it. Kind of like a sparkler does. But after going back and forth across the corn field, it came to the center and hung there for a while. And then lifted a few feet higher,,,and then got really huge,,like a nova..and then took off into the sky. It was the most amazing thing I had ever seen. We had not been drinking, nor did we do drugs. We had seen in the news later that week that a Dekalb Police officer had collided on the highway with an object fitting the same discription. It cracked his windsheild and bent his antenna. We kept it quiet all these years thinking noone would believe us.
Following is an addendum/repitition, included in a second sending of the same report.  PD