During the summer of 2002, my ex-wife, myself and 3 friends were overnight fishing at Lake Hemet in Hemet,CA. At approximately 12:00 am we noticed a light to the North East of our location. The light was white towards the center, but was several shades of pink, purple and violet towards the outside of the light. It was at least a few thousand feet from our location. It didn't appear to be moving, but was well above the nearby hills. We, at first, guessed it was either a helicopter or perhaps even a slow moving plane coming directly towards us, as it didn't appear to be moving left or right, but did appear to get brighter and larger. After several minutes we saw 2 or 3 more similar lights join the first one. They appeared to have come from either the ground below or perhaps a lower elevation of flight that was being obscured by trees. Soon all the lights appeared to be whizzing around each other at amazing, breakneck speeds. They were all maneuvering in ways I had never seen before. Sudden stops, accelerations & 90º sudden turns. They appeared to be moving closer, but we were unsure.Within a matter of minutes we noticed the "crafts" seemed to suddenly be closer. They were nearly overhead by this point. Soon we realized that these weren't just "lights", as they had an oval shape and appeared to have a distinct outline. We were unable to make out any specific details, as the bright light obscured our vision. We were all nearly frozen with fer and excitement. There were about two dozen other people around this small lake. Several of them began shouting, asking us if we could see what they were seeing. We told them "yes" and suggested they quiet down. We didn't want to scare away the craft or let it know our exact location, as we were all afraid.Soon, one of the people across this small lake used a small spotlight in an attempt to better see the "crafts". As soon as the light shone towards them, they suddenly began ascending, descending and making all different types of maneuvers. Everyone screamed and ran to their vehicles and tents, in an attempt to hide from the "crafts".After only a few moments the craft all began ascending at lightning speed towards the sky above. It was frightening, but also exzilerating and beautiful! Due to the frightful nature of the encounter, our group of 5, as well as a few of the other groups at the lake, all packed our things and left in a hurry. Unsure of the possibility of a return, we were unable to sleep the rest of that night. The following morning we heard from several friends and family, who lived near the lake, with reports of UFO's in the area that night. Out of fear for government reprisals, we all decided not to speak of the event openly ever again. Now, after all these years, I have decided that it is time to come forward and tell my story. I know that my story is not nearly as detailed or invasive as many other stories. However, it is my hope that perhaps stories like mine can better help the MUFON community in their efforts to put the puzzle of these phenomenon together and form a clearer picture. Thank you for enabling me to share my story.