While satellite gazing at night, three objects moving in the upper atmosphere stopped completely for a second, then proceeded in different directions.

I was watching (with no binoculars) satellites go by in the clear night sky as I sometimes did when I was 15 years old.  Being the gadget guy that I am, I was fascinated by how humans had put into orbit such crafts.  I usually would observe 5 to 7 satellites a night before retiring to bed.  Then at around 9:30 p.m., I observed 3 satellites that were closely and perfectly equidistant from each other.  The trio caught my special attention.  I thought I was so lucky to have been witnessing a rare coincidence.  They were moving with identical velocities from North to South.  One object led the other two.  Then, without warning, they all STOPPED for at least a full second!  The manner in which they stopped really surprised me because they did not slow down to a stop but simply stopped dead in their tracks.  Then they moved again immediately with the previous velocities, but in three different directions: the leader continued southward, one went 45 degrees to the left, while the third one went 45 degrees to the right.  It was an amazing sight.  I watched them all until they disappeared into the horizon.  Even at that time, I thought about what technology, if earthly, could do that... or from which country.  But to this date, over 21 years later, I know of absolutely no air or space craft technology that could do what those three objects did.  I am a man of science with a Ph.D. and so I always try to find answers to the way things work, especially those that catch my interest.  For this one: extra-terrestrial.