fireball into pensacola bay

while serving on aircraft carrier located tied to a pier at naval air station,on watch with an officer of the deck, on midwatch, we observed something in a clear night sky coming over pensacola bay at an app.altitude of 500 feet at a speed of app 3 to four hundred mile an hour.
it was orange red in color slowed and stopped in midair and lowered itself into the bay. it was probably within a mile distant from the ship and appeared to be the size of a softball held at arms length for comparable size of object.  i asked the officer if it should be reported and his response to me was not to report it for fear of being thought crazy.  this incident was never logged in the quarterdeck log...............as the round fireball lowered itself into the water the orange glow from it showed till it went deeper, also there was absolutely no sound from it as it approached and dissapeared.
Witness indicates that the date of the incident is approximate.  PD