Cigar shaped UFO with it's tailend on fire

My mother and I were leaving her place of employment on Southmore in Pasadena. At about 5pm. It was a clear, cloudless day. I looked up and saw a cigar shaped, bright shiney object with fire coming out of it's tail. At first, I thought it resembled a rocket. But as I concentrated on it, it was unlike any flying object I had ever seen. (certainly unlike rockets taht you see on television) It was flying north at about 4-5,000 feet in a straight line. The fire that was trailing the aricraft was about 40% of the craft's total length. There was no black/dark smoke as a result of the fire. Just reddish flame.
To this day... I believe this may have been a UFO in distress. There was no noise or visible lights on the craft. It appeared to be SO reflective (silver in color) that the sunlight made the craft hard to distinguish. I estimate that it was travelling at 300mph.
Date is approximate.  PD