Large silent cylindar spotted on ASU campus, Boone NC, with large light, hovering just above treetops

Myself, my roommate and another friend were sitting and talking outside our student union on a bench overlooking part of the Appalachian State University campus in Boone, NC.  ASU is a rural-type university in the Blue Ridge Mtn. range in NWestern NC.  
All three of us; at the same time; jumped up and pointed and exclaimed, "What's that?!"  There, hovering just above the treetops in the dark, was some sort of a huge cylindar-looking silent craft.  I mean it made NO noise.  
It had a long light that seemed to rotate from the top down towards us. The light movement seemed to make a humming noise.  If "it" did see us; it saw three young women with their jaws agape and their eyes wide as saucers!  
In an instant, it pulled out of sight - almost as if it disappeared.  
We stared at each other and then took off like mad all the way back to our dorm - scared to death.  We huddled under a blanket on the couch and tried to calm outselves and to figure what in the world that could've been; too scared to go back out.  I realise this happened years ago but I've told numerous people, including my husband and children over the years, so I remember this as if it happened yesterday.  It wasn't until recently that I thought to look into this on the web thus found your site.  I am not the kind of person who believes these types of things.  I'm rather skeptical and a down-to-earth person.  But I KNOW we saw something unearthly or at least unexplainable that night.
Witness indicates that the date of the incident is approximate.  PD