Red Object over my backyard.

On this date, I was putting wood in my woodstove, which is located in my den. The den has a window which is level with the front yard. The ground was covered with snow, about an inch, maybe a bit more. As I was putting the wood in, I noticed the whole front yard was red. Assuming my chimminey was on fire, I ran upstairs and went to the deck which is located in the back of the house. As I went past my mother, which at that time was living with my wife and I, I told her, "I think my chimminey is on fire!" Once I opened the sliding door which leads to the deck, she was behind me. As I looked outside, the whole back yard was bright red. Looking toward the chimminey I realized it was not on fire. I looked around and saw a bright red round object over my backyard. It looked like a red spotlight, but big. I would say it was about 100 yards above the backyard. The exact size is hard to decribe due to the brightness of the light, as if looking into a spotlight. But it was bigger than, let's say, a full size van. It hovered there for a few seconds and shot straight up, faster then anything I have ever seen, a loud boom followed and it disappeared going up. It disappeared in less than a second or two. Being ex-U.S. Army, a Sgt (E-5) with the 82nd ABN, two combat tours, I know it was not a military plane or helicopter. The boom, it is my opinion was the sound barrier being broken due to the speed it went up. I have seen many weapons and planes/helicopters in action, I have seen F-15's and F-16's fly over my head low, but nothing will compare to how fast this object shot straight up, even faster than missiles being shot from a MRLS vehicle. The speed was undescribable. One curious thing is that it did not emit any sound, as in a motor running, only the boom as it went up. My next door neighbor came out to his deck and yelled at me, "Did you shoot a shotgun?!" I told him no, I didn't but had heard a noise, not figuring he would understand what I had just seen. My mother saw the object also. I know it ! was not a military plane.
I am not sure about the exact date, but I am sure it was around December of '93.
Date is approximate.  PD