Strange movements amoung the stars

On a unusually clear night, I was waiting out side of my fiancee's home for her to come out.  I started looking up at the stars above when I noticed strange movements in the heavens above.  At first I thought I was seeing meteorites.  But instead of falling straight down, their paths were either curving or snaking through the sky.  Some apppeared to join up and then after a while, separate.  
When my fiancee came out of the house I pointed the phenomenon out to her and after viewing it she became quite frightened.  
Being a commercial pilot, I would guess these objects to be between 15,000 to 20,000 feet in altitude.
Date may be approximate, although the witness does not indicate that fact.  PD