Long and short flashes of bright yellow/orange in San Francisco southwest sky on 3/19/08.

In the early morning hours of 03/19/08 I just finished a brief trip to the restroom and was returning to bed when I noticed a bright flash of yellow from the window.  I walked closer to look and saw several smaller, quicker flashes of the same color in the southwestern sky over the ocean.  
The light was of such an unusual color that I was concerned, and having served active duty in the Air Force, I considered the rate at which the quick flashes occurred to either be weapons fire or a lightening storm.  I’ve seen several lightening storms, and they were never of this bright yellow/orange color.  My gut felt it was weapons fire of some type, and a sense of dread had me grabbing my dogs and running under the covers.  I don’t scare easily, but I was scared.  
I told myself I must be wrong, overreacting, or half-asleep, and that I would see on the news in the morning that it was simply lightening.  No such incident was reported on the morning news, and nothing found on an internet search.  
I know what I saw, and had to tell the truth in case somebody else noticed it or knows what it was and could explain it to me.