22:55 hrs. (U.S. eastern)From a third floor balcony facing Northwest, observed a bright red-orange light that I thought at first was a Chinese lantern, but on further observation I could not tell what it was. It appeared to move in directions inconsistent with the prevailing wind, and instead of burning out, looked like it took off for high altitude and was still visible at apparently pretty high altitude and far distance. Observed from near geographic middle of Washington, DC, looking Northwest. Object was first visible apparently above city, then moved quickly to the North. Estimated time of observation, about a minute.