A small red light ascended then disappearedI was driving in a rural area at approximately 8:00PM on December 28th, 2012. I was coming down a large hill and approaching an intersection next to a small town called Edwards in Illinois. I was driving North and on the left side of the road there is this small area that I believe is dedicated to preserving native prairie grass. Out of that area, I saw a light ascend at about a 70 degree angle for approximately 6 seconds. The light was reddish and small and shaped like a cigar. After 6 seconds the light disappeared. I was near an airport when this happened but the object was moving much faster than any aircraft I have ever seen and also like I said, it seemed to lauch off of the ground and was very small. The closest comparison I can think of is to a firework, a roman candle specifically. However this object did not behave like a firework, it was a steady light source and it maintained a straight trajectory. Another comparison would be a laser ligh! t or possibly a falling star.I am not trying to say that this was an alien spacecraft or anything like that but I am genuinely curious what this could have been. I can't think of any reasonable explanation. I have heard of rods but I would like to think there is a more reasonable explanation.