2000-12-26 - Greenfiled, MA - Fireball

I was traveling north on Rte 91 home to VT on the evening of 12/26/00 at about 6:30 P.M. when I was outside of greenfield MA and saw what I thought at first was a meteor. It was traveling from the east to the west. I know this since I was traveling north on Rte 91. Two cars had just passed me on the highway and I know that they saw it too since they swerved in the passing lane in front of me just as I saw this object. It was bright yellow/orange at the tip and neon green in the tail which was wider than the tip. I did not see it dissappear over the horizon since I was too busy trying to make sure I didn't collide with the cars in font of me. I saw only one mention of this object in the news the next night which was picked up by the Associated Press in my local newspaper. I have watched the sky for most of my life and have never seen anything like this. I have seen the comets in recent time - Hale Bopp and Halley's - but they looked nothing like this. More importantly, I have been seeing lights in the southeastern sky from where I live in northeastern VT for a few weeks. They are clearly visible on a clear night. I don't think that these lights are the normal star/planet sightings eventhough they are visible in the sky at dusk when the sky gets dark. They seem to be suspended in the night sky at the tail of a constellation, which I cannot name since I don't know them that well. They only move in the sky as the night goes on and as the constellation moves in the night sky. The reason I feel they are different is that they appear to be flashing red, green and white lights. This is visible clearly with binoculars. They are much further out in the sky than any aircraft, because I have seen aircraft fly in the sky at altitudes that are are very high at the same time I am observing the flashing lights and the aircraft is far below these lights. As the night progresses I can see other lights (not stars, I don't think) appear over the horizon from the northeast. They seem to form a very large triangle in their positon in the night sky with this lower brighter object. The two additional light points in the sky (also flashing colors) appear to be much further away than the one I can clearly see at dusk and thereafter. Can you tell me anything about them or has anyone else seen them?