I was driving south on meridian street at 1:10 am. While driving I noticed what appeared to be an aircraft with three bright white lights in a triangle pattern and one red flashing light in the center in the sky directly south if my position. I have spent the last 12 years as an aircraft mechanic and have worked on and around many aircraft. I am very familiar with how they normally appear at night. At first glance I had assumed this was a normal aircraft, but the white lights were brighter than normal and the craft was moving slowly at what appeared to be a rather low altitude. I continued to watch the craft as it crossed in front of me and came to stop just to my right side above a wooded area near the road. I thought this was very abnormal, I pulled off to the side of the road and turned of my radio. I rolled down my windows and opened my sunroof and observed the craft for about 30 seconds. The craft appeared to hover a little above the tree line. Judging by the spacing of the lights, the craft appeared to be about the size of a large cargo plane, but since it was stationary I had to rule that out and then considered that it may be a large helicopter. I listened closely for any engine or propeller noise and heard nothing. The craft slowly began to drift north and was blocked by trees. I pulled forward and turned right on 204th st so I could get a better view. I could still see the craft and observed there was a flashing red light on top of it as well. Another thing that struck me as odd was that I could still see all three white lights, typically when aircraft move past you, the lights in the front are forward facing and cannot be seen from the rear. After about ten more seconds the craft suddenly appeared to move quickly north and out of view. It remained at a very low altitude the entire time.There is a local airport nearby and I am used to seeing small planes in the area. Also, joint base lewis mcchord is not far away and it is not uncommon to see and hear various helicopters. I am completely sure that what I saw was not a normal helicopter or small plane. It was very dark, and I was not able to distinguish the body shape of the craft and could only see the lights. The lights however were very clear and appeared to be within a hundred feet above the trees. The white lights were solid and were visible regardless of what angle I viewed them from. The red lights flashed once followed by a double flash, repeating. There were no other cars on the road, the sky was clear, and it was quiet. After I lost sight of the craft I immediately called a friend that is a pilot and often flies a small plane in the same area. After describing what I saw he suggested it was a C-17, I said it was hovering, he suggested a Chinook, I told him it was just above the trees and made no noise, he said he had no idea what that could be and told me perhaps I should go home and get some more sleep. I know what I saw, I just don't have a great explanation for it.