how can something that looks like a falling "star", -stop and change direction instantly?

It was a cold november night with bright skies and a lot of stars. We were on a military exercise out in the mountains in Sweden. I stood looking up at the stars while fetching some water out of a lake. Suddenly i saw what i first thought was a falling star. Then came another one. My friends saw it too but they said it must be a satelite (they can be seen this time of year when they pass the skies). But, the next moment i saw two moore, and they started to "chase" each other... They looked like stars (same size, same bright light) but they were moving so fast! It was very strange to see the "stars" first flying at this speed, and then stop(!!?) and change direction and start again with same speed instantly. The "stars" were also flying in circles, continuing chasing each other. They must have been flying at a very high altitude since they were so small. No human vessle och aircraft can fly so fast, so high and change directions like that! That is for sure!!! The experience lasted for at least 4 minutes before they suddenly dissapeared. I can not find any theoretical explanation on this.
Date is approximate.  PD