Driving to the store at roughly 2100 on 1dec2018 i was about to head down a hill into the valley when i observed a light red-orangish light at about streetlight height. i initially thought it was a street light but i remember thinking "man why is that street light so bright?". i knew that the adjacent mountainside was in the dark behind it. as i began to head down the hill i realized that the light remained in place as i slowly went down in elevation. not long after i noticed that the light was then above the horizon with nothing but empty night sky around it. i immediately pulled over to the side of the road and began to film. this wasn’t like anything i have ever seen and i wasn’t about to miss out on getting it on film. it seemed that the moment i began recording this very bright orangish light it began slowly climbing in elevation. at this point, i was almost directly below it. the first thought that i had once i saw it suspended in air was that it was a drone with a light on it. though i haven't flown a home user drone, only military, i wasn’t aware of any with this bright/color of a light on it. then to top it off it was completely silent given there was little to no traffic passing by at this time. the second thought that i had was some sort of airborne flare. i have seen several different types of flares throughout my military career over the last 12 years. the problem with this is that it didn’t flicker, put off illuminated smoke, or drift with the northbound wind. this looked nothing like any civilian/military aircraft that i know of either. i recorded it for as long as it was visible. i wasn’t convinced that what i was recording was unique until i saw it begin to penetrate through the cloud layer. again i've never flown an at home drone so if they are able to go that high in elevation i am not aware. this was a fog-free night as well. living in a valley i see fog settle down into the surrounding canyons on a regular basis so i know that it wasn’t flying into a low hanging fog. this was much too high to be a layer of fog. there was moderate wind this night coming from the south headed north also. once it was completely out of view i stopped recording. i stood there watching the sky with my camera ready just in case it came back down. i watched for about 10-15 mins and i never saw it again. after showing my employer and coworkers they are convinced that i had seen something worth reporting and this is the one place i can think of that i wouldn't be immediately met with criticism and skepticism. if anyone has a professional opinion of what i saw that night i would be glad to listen.