Witnessed a light, moving at right angles travel across the sky, strobes flashing 3 times, and 4 additional lights emerging.

While looking up at the stars, I saw a light moving at right angles in a zig-zag pattern from the eastern horizon going west. I told my husband and two friends there with me to look at it. We all agreed that it was not an aircraft of any type we knew ( my husband was a licensed pilot) and I was a student pilot at the time. It was high in the sky, estim. at least 10k feet or higher. It traveled in a straight path above the horizon, and as it reached the western sky, suddenly a very bright strobe light flashed 3 times in rapid succession, and 4 other lights emerged rapidly from the source of the light, flew rapidly away, and all disappeared.
Date is approximate.  PD