I observed a ball of light trailing Space Shuttle, then watched in astonishment as it streaked behind the hills.

First, I'm not 100% sure of the day although it was in July 1985 and roughly 2230 for sure. I'm an amateur astronomer and I have frequently followed the Space Shuttle(s) and other satellites. I had read in the news that the shuttle would be overhead so I went outside to my backyard a few minutes early to get adjusted to the dark. I saw the Shuttle exactly at the time that was mentioned on the news. This was the first time I had seen a Space Shuttle overhead. I yelled for my mom to come out to see. At this time I noticed another light trailing the shuttle maybe the distance of your hand if you held it straight up. This ball of light was slightly smaller than the shuttle and I forget the color. Anyway as my mom was walking out the small ball of light shot silently and instantaneously down behind the foothills. I was facing west at the time. All I saw was a beam of light somewhat similar to a bright Perseid meteor shooting behind the hills. The ball of light was gone. My mom never saw it since she was still walking outside. I've still remembered it to this day since I'm pretty skeptical of UFO reports but I don't know of any explanation for this.  I'm filing this report because I'm wondering if anyone has seen similar things especially near a Space Shuttle.
Date in July 1985 is approximate.  PD