Moving north I guess, took photo, looked down, but when I looked back it was gone

I was driving south on I-395 today, 9-24-2022, and noticed a bright light in the sky. At around 7:30, the sky was still light on one side, but I was looking slightly to the southeast, so it was a bit darker. The light beacon coming from the object was exceptionally strong, as I could see the very bright beam from my very well-lit area (the “mixing bowl), and I didn’t think it could be a plane or helicopter. It looked like a beacon starting from a slender line beaming out wide in a single direction, but not at anything in particular. I couldn’t tell if it was moving while I was driving, and I wanted to get a better look. I took the Springfield / Old Keene Mill exit and pulled into the Springfield Plaza Shopping Center. I parked in the lot north of Panda Express facing the Homewood Suites. After watching and realizing it was moving in a northerly direction, I decided to take some photos. I looked at the photos closely after taking each one, and then would take another photo, three photos in all. It wasn’t moving very fast. After looking at the third photo, I looked back up where it should be (based on the speed it had been going), and it was gone. Looking back at the photos, I noticed that there was a “spot” on one of them. I zoomed in to see a flat square object.
Weather was calm and mostly clear. I started to drive home, and then thought to look at the clock. It was 7:44 when I looked, so I think it was around 7:35 when I first noticed it.