Bright blue flash which lit up the night sky like a blue neon daylight.

I have had three different experiences.  This is the first.
1.  I was working an evening or overnight shift (I can't remember which or exactly what time it was but it was well into the night) in a local rock quarry and was high on a rock pile in my quarry dump truck so that I could see above the tree line and obstacles and out across our large lake, Kentucky Lake.  I was looking roughly south and southwest.  From somewhere behind me came a massive blue flash which lit up the sky almost to the level of daylight.  I could see the horizon in front of me for miles just as if it were daylight except it was a brilliant blue color.  I thought it must be some sort of nuclear attack or explosion and I waited for the shock wave for probably a minute.  During this time I contemplated taking my truck the 2 miles to my house because if I were going to die, I wanted to be home with my family.  These trucks are very large and not street legal so the thing I was contemplating seriously would have gotten me in a lot of trouble.
I composed myself and drove down off my rock pile and returned to the quarry where I was now facing in a north / north-easterly direction.  The sky off in the distance (if I had to estimate, I'd say 8 to 12 miles away, had (from memory) about 5 planes circling in the general direction where the blast came from.  I never heard a sound with the blast.  This area is an hour's drive by Interstate 24 from Fort Campbell Army base where the 101st Airborne Division is based.
I was shaken up pretty badly for a while.  I'm sure I must have discussed this event with some of the other workers at the time but can't remember those conversations.  Nothing of this event ever showed up in any local media.  I suppose it could have been a meteor but that wouldn't explain the circling planes in the area where the blast must have originated.  I was absolutely perplexed at the time.  Now, after several other experiences, I feel the event must have been a UFO encounter with a military jet.  I have only spoken with a few people about my belief in UFO's and have found two other people who have had dramatic daylight experiences.  I'll encourage them to make posts here.
Date is approximate.  PD