Driving Southbound on US 61 heading towards Burlington, Iowa.Time was about 17:45 CST. Looked to the SE and noticed a row of about 7 lights all in a line and one light slightly to the left of row seemingly hovering in the distance. Seemed the objects were as high as small airplanes, I see many airplanes in my area and always pay attention to the sky and I am for sure this was not an airplane as the lights did not flicker like the wingtip lights. Objects than started disappearing one by one, I thought because of cloud cover as it was overcast. It was just getting dark outside and these lights were gold/orange in color. Spotted it again in town as I was heading east, now the lights seemed as they were across the river and in Illinois. Still in a row and still heading SE. Lost sights of them after passing some buildings and trees. I've seen strange things during the day and at night around this area but this was unquestionably something strange and easy to spot. I also have a friend that can verify that was in Illinois at the time and saw the same lights but from a slightly different vantage point.