Red lights along the side, white light in front, in a search-like pattern: slow over water, very fast over land.

I'm filing this because of a History Channel program that referred me to this site, and I stumbled upon a sighting listed here that confirmed one I've been wondering about for almost forty years. 
Camper park near Homestead, FL AFB.  Saw something with red lights along the side and a white light in front rise from trees a half mile away.  Rose slowly, then moved horizontally out over the water for about ten minutes at a slow pace.  When it came over land, it moved extremely fast, then slowed down again over water.  It kept up this circular pattern the whole time.  It was visible for over an hour. 
Made a jet engine whine, but very faint. There was a gravel road built up out of the water (the way they do down there) and the ship seemed to cross it a mile away. My dad drove us down to look. We found an Air Force car and a uniformed man who refused to acknowledge the thing we were pointing at.  He said there were just 'some boys out here drinking beer', and he wouldn't let us go any farther.  The craft was clearly visible, but he wouldn't even look over his shoulder.  We drove back to camp, and my boyfriend took a walkie-talkie with him and walked back down the road to see if he could get closer on foot.  
The craft crossed over the road above him when I was talking to him on the radio. The radio cut out, and he came running back in a panic.  The radio worked again as soon as the craft moved on. Eventually, the craft dropped down, out of sight, like a balloon landing. It was no balloon. 
When we asked the campground manager the next day, he shrugged it off. "We see a lot of things around here. Nobody pays any attention anymore."
Witness indicates that date of the incident is approximate.  PD