The night Duke the dog died

I was returning from my aunts house who lived behind us at the time I was 11yrs old. I was out after dark and had to be home before mom came home from work that night. I heard a strange humming noise coming from the other side of a large hedge. There was a large apple tree that I was passing under so I had to move to the hedge where there was a hole that the neighbor kids and I would pass thru to get to each others house.When I got to the pass thru I noticed something hovering above the neighbors dog house and that Duke the dog was not barking but staring at this thing. I looked up to see a saucer type object just floating there. No lights and only a slight humming noise is all there was. Duke started to bark but I wasnt sure if it was at the object or me being there in the dark. But after a few barks this thing started to hum louder and went straight up then with in seconds it was out of site but it took less than 1 second for this object to go from 30 feet off the ground to a few thousand feet turn at a right angle and disappearing. That night it had rained but I know for a fact that it did not storm. But Duke the dog was found dead and all the grass in a 30 foot circle was dead and brown. The rest of the yard was still healthy. I dont know what killed Duke but I do know it wasnt a storm.
Time and date are approximate.  We will ask the witness whether he could still identify the location of the dead ring of grass.  PD