strange lights rising in the sky moving back and forth

I was sitting on my balcony and looked towards LAX airport.  I then saw what I thought was a plane crashing and then it just started rising up and moving back and forth into the sky in like 2 min... There were actually clouds/smoke and you could see the lights go through the clouds/smoke, meandering back and forth.
It looked like a kite going back and forth with 5 lights shining and then 3 as it turned (hiding the other 2).
I know it was over LAX, but it really went straight up into the air getting smaller and smaller, so it could not have been a plane.  I was thinking helicopter, but the way it moved was so odd and I've never seen a helicopter just go straight up into the air meandering back and forth.