I was in the car with my girlfriend when scanning the road for hazards and pretty views upon my exit from sequoia national park. i was leaning forward looking at treetops which were about 200 feet off the ground when the road straightened out from its previously curvy path. i immediately saw three white lights in the air that were roughly at my elevation due to the fact that i was coming from uphill. my girlfriend was talking to her sister on the phone at the time and i cut her off and exclaimed "look at that, look at it right now!" i continued to force her to look so that i would not be the only witness. i'm convinced other cars that had been in front of me and behind me saw it as well. the object was hovering just above the tree tops a short distance to the south of highway 198 and began ascending and making its way south east at a visually slow aircraft speed that i estimate to be 80mph. the three lights were in a triangle shape on a shadow that looked circular. i am unsure of the shape of the craft as the middle light rotated about the x axis of the shape while the two outer lights stayed put. the individual lights were circular and bright white. the craft rotated to face the general direction of the road all while it continued to move higher and further away from where i first saw it. my girlfriend is in agreement with what i saw and both of us are mentally healthy. i am sure it was not a civilian or military aircraft as neither had the distinct light patterns that accompany such aircraft. i am sure that i did not just witness the aircraft from an angle at which i would not recognize the light patterns as my father is a pilot, i have flown planes since age 10 under my fathers instruction, and i have lived near a military air base since birth. living near the airbase has exposed me to aircraft everyday for as long as i have lived and i can recognize which aircraft it is by the silhouette, lights, and flight patterns. the experience with the object lasted approximately 2 minutes but this is an estimate as adrenaline and fear rushed through me while i vacated the location