2019-03-05 - Fairview Heights, IL - Changing

Consistently changing aircraft, odd jet sound once close enough, started out cigar shape, heading Southeast to becoming disk shape l

Seen very bright, white lights blinking due South from my home, within the tree line. The degree of brightness is what drew my attention. The aircraft was not moving in a specific direction, left or right, rather seemed more side to side but hard to confidently say with the wind and treeline moving. After about 5 minutes, it became clear the object was heading in a Northeast direction, almost straight to me. At some point the blurry bright lights broke the treeline and it was 2 sets of the bright lights, blinking. Im guessing about 1 second intervals between the two sets, for a total of 4 lights. At this point, I went and got my youngest daughter, 9 yr old, I assumed the object to be in a “cigar” shape, as the two sets of white lights were horizontal. About 10 minutes into sighting, the object made no sound, no noise at all. I assumed this was a drone, although everyone around me is older, my closest neighbor are family or friends, no possible drone for a! estimated 1/4 mi radius. At some point of moving Northeast, say 12-15 minutes into sighting a third and forth set of blinking lights began, red in color. Then, 2Sets bright white, 2 sets red, white in front red in back according to flight direction. My daughter says...what in the world...then a line of white dots, not flickering, appeared under the 2 sets of white and 2 sets of red, estimating 10 non flickering, smalller “dots”. Object remained to appear in cigar form until it turned, in which it made a 90* once it had passed being perpendicular to me. When this happened, the lights seemed to spread out, as in a 4 corners pattern, 1 set percorner with white remaining in front and red in back. At this point I was yelling into house for my wife, she lacks the capacity to make sense out of shiny moving objects in the sky, she simply nervously laughs but knows the lights arent natural. Let me back up, after the lights Turned into four sets to 1 to 0 in the bottom but right b! efore it had reached us a perpendicular to me I finally heard ! a jet en gine that seem to be coming from the onject. Seemed out of ratio though, awefully loud for what looked to be further away. 4 sets of light, ( one in each of the 4 corners, jet sound, making what ended up to being about 120* turn heading due west towards Lambert Airport the flashing lights made a “outline” of a circle, a circle inside the 4 corners. My 9 yr old pointed it out and started to get nervous. Not sure if wife seen the circle inside the 4 lit up corners, once the object got far enough it ended up being just the 2 sets of white lightsagain in a horizontal direction. The entire event took about 25-30 minutes in total. I went back outside after warming ipfor about 10 minites, seen another object with similar lights including the degree Of brightness, going in back towards location it had begun from but no jet sound and furthur. East than it was when it passed me first time.