There were a number of similar bursts of light close but above orbiting satellites last August. What made them catch the eye was they were red.

Not that it means anything, but this is an entry from my Journal:
Friday, May 7, 1999....9:15 PM Just came into the house after watching an odd light show in the sky. I had stepped outside to watch Venus gleaming in the West. She's near her maximun angle between us and the Sun---around 45 degrees, and I've never seen her so bright or for, seemingly, so long.
I glanced up at Mars, high in the Southern sky, and another bright star about 10 degrees South of him. There was still another bright one closer to the second than to Mars. I didn't recognize this one, and realized that something was amiss. As I watched, it became obvious that this third 'star' was moving---almost imperceptably moving. It was headed North at about 2 to 3 times the speed of the minute hand on a clock. After it had crossed approximately 8 degrees in 5 minutes, it began to fade and in about 1 1/2 seconds, was gone. I whispered, "What in hell was that?"
In about half a minute, there was a very faint point of light near where this 'star' had vanished. But it only lasted a tad less than one second. It was replaced by another about 2 degrees away----again for just under a second---then another, and another, and another. These lights were like the shortest flashes of fireflies seen over a field, but they were white instead of firefly green. They were confined to a starless patch of sky about 10 degrees across, both north-south and east-west.They kept up this pinball blinking for about 8 minutes, and then were gone.
When my neck began protesting my looking up motionless, I gave up and came in to write this down.
Is there some kind of 'Starwars' scenario going on up there?

Hard to say what it may ave been with no point of reference at all. Where was the telescope pointed? How powerful was it? What prompted him to watch it in the first place. Why didn't anyone ask these things or if hey had why didn't they put the info in the story?

No telescope, just naked eye observation. There was just a sudden urge to step outside and look at Venus. Then, I turned and scanned the sky to see what else was visible at that time of the night. Spotted Mars and the odd out-of-place star below it. I was living in the country away from city lights. Since then, I scan the night sky frequently to see if there's any movement. I've always felt prompted or guided to observe events that were out of the ordinary. I know this sounds crazy, but I once watched what I took to be a "fairy procession" in the woods late one night. Ordinarily, I'd have taken off through the woods to try and intercept the lights and find out what they really were. But I felt the need to stand there observing and not interfere. Again, just in the right place, at the right time.

That's how the "fairies" look and act here in the forests in West Tn. Do you recall any unusual smells during the encounter?

In Sept, 1768, when Goethe was traveling from Frankfort to the university of Leipzig, he encountered this same phenomenon. The travel was painful under a heavy rain and in the hillsides, The travelers had to get down to relieve the effort of the horses. In his autobiography, he wrote: "All at once, in a ravine on the right hand side of the way, I saw a sort of amphitheater, wonderfully illuminated. In a funnel-shaped space there were innumerable little lights gleaming, arranged step-fashion over one another; and they shone so brilliantly that the eye was dazzled. But what still more confused the sight was that they did not keep still, but jumped about here and there, as well downwards from above as vice versa, and in every direction. The greater part of them, however, remained stationary, and beamed on. It was only with the greatest reluctance that I suffered myself to be called away from the spectacle, which I could have wished to examine more closely....Now whether this a pandemonium of will-o'-the-wisps, or a company of luminous creatures, I will not decide.

You've seen Fairies, man! They took an interest in you, or you wouldn't have had the good fortune to see or interact with them.