We saw circular object w/ multi-colored lights fading from one set to another floating west-east after dropping down from sky.

My friend saw a star/light drop down out of the sky and go behind some trees and houses in the distance. He then saw an object appear as it cleared the trees and told me to look. When I looked up I saw an object with multi-color lights that faded slowly from one "set" as another set of colored light started to light up. The lights were scattered uniformly all over the bottom of the object as it slowly floated moving west to east until it past over my friend's house. We were in his back yard when we saw the object. The object was dark other than the colored lights but we could make out it's silhouette as it floated past the stars. It was a clear warm night and the object appeared to be very high in the sky yet very large and circular although it was difficult to make out exact dimensions. I still remember clearly seeing those colored lights slowly fade from one set to another much like new Christmas lights can. My friend and I went inside and reported what we saw to his mother and then made a drawing of what we saw. My friend may still have the drawing. We kept looking out at night to see if it showed up again but I have never seen anything like it since.
Witness indicates that the date of the event is approximate.  PD