Silent light darts to avoid collision.

I was walking my friend home through an open field.  We were 10 and 8 years old respectively.  
As my friend walked 5 paces ahead me, we both stopped and turned simultaneously to watch a small white light appear to be moving down a driveway about 1/4 mile away.  There was no sound.  
As the light reached the end of the driveway - a declining angle - it rose over the house directly opposite the driveway and proceeded toward the water tower next to the men's penitentiary.  It looked as though it would crash into it when it darted 30 feet to the left (a straight move, not curving away) and continued forward. 
That is when my friend and I both ran to her home.  Up to that point neither one of us had spoken and when my friend reported the incident (I was listening) to her aunt, it was the same words that were formulating in my mind.
Witness indicates that the date of the incident is approximate.  PD