7 to 9 large, bright amber lights moving from southwest to northeast over IllinoisThis occured at night, begining at about 11:30 and ending by midnight. There were 7 lights that I witnessed, two more according to others nearby. The lights were amber colored, and would occasionally flash bright white for a moment before going back to amber. They moved steadily, not zigzagging or stopping and starting. They were travelling northwest, coming from the southeast. They each took 4-6 minutes to cross the sky from horizon to horizon. There were first a pair, moving at the same rate, far enough apart to be distinctly two separate objects. Before they disappeared over the horizon, a solitary object moved in the same direction. This solitary one was seen to flash. About 5 minutes after that one disappeared over the horizon, 4 more came from the same starting point, moving in a line at first. About 1/4 of the way across the sky, the front one diverged a bit, but they still travelled together. At about this point, the rear one began to flash white for 30 seconds or so, then went back to amber. Along the way across, perhaps one or two others did a similar flash behavior. No sound was heard to come from them. The objects were very bright and large; moreso than planets, stars or any airplanes. I am a 26 year old college student in LAS. Several passersby were stopping in the street to watch and saw the same things I did, and I contacted friends in town who also saw the lights.