Orange sphere moving erratically and at rapid speeds

It was the summer of 1966.  We were playing baseball in the baseball field behind our grade school.  There were about 8 of us.  There is woodland beyond the school ground for many miles.  We saw a very bright orange spherical object, over 1/2 the size of the moon at about 40 degrees above.  We stopped playing baseball, stood and stared as it was so strange.  Nothing anyone would normally see.  Five of the kids ran home in fright as all of us and they thought it was a UFO. It was hovering above the trees in the horizon, looking south.  Three of us, the eldest of the 8 kids there and best friends remained and stared at the object for about 15 minutes.  We were only 13-15 years of age then.  It appeared to be about 2 miles away.  The object moved very erratically, hovering and then moving at an incredible speed away from us then back towards us then to the left, right, up, down and at different angles. This was no weather balloon or man made object.  It glowed orange.  After about 14 minutes of this since we first spotted it, it started to dart away extremely fast as it got so small in a 45 degree angle, then shift back and forth, zig-zagging its way to the point that we could not see it any more.  A few years ago I met my friend who saw this, he said to his wife, "See, I told you so, that I saw UFO and that I was there too."  No one ever believed him and I try not saying anything to anyone as I feel that anyone would think I am 'not all there'.  I am a very rational, intelligent person and somewhat skeptical of these matters, difficult to convince, yet I have seen it and am now left still perplexed, bewildered and confused about it all.
Witness indicates that date of sighting is approximate.  PD