Got off of work at 11 pm, dropped my coworker on the highway running northward of Atkins, Arkansas (105), coming back at about 11:45 I noticed something in my upward field of view. I was about 3 miles from atkins. Observed an object, giving off an apparent trail of either smoke or ejecta. Initially thought it was a missle or asteroid, due to it's steep angle. At about 500-800 feet it flashed so brightly I thought it exploded, and it's speed increased to double what it was before, maybe faster.Before the flash/explosion the object was only really noticeable by it's trail and low altidude but after the flash it seemed to be much more bright and reflective, The whole thing was intact after the bright flash, It went over the treeline, going behind the ridge line that lies parallel with the highway and out of my sight. I only observed it for about 10 or 15 seconds, and it was too far away to truly ascertain what it looked like. It could very well have been a military craft or missle, but the bright flash and increased visibility of the trail makes me think otherwise, my country is not at war and we are far from any testing range, the only thing it looked similar too was an air bursting meteor, my experience with such things are limited but it does not seem it would have been that bright. I am also hearing loud noises that sound like far away explosions, have been since I arrived at midnight. Instantly I was overcame with excitement at seeing the object, i'd never seen anything like it before, I was disappointing I was not able to film it or see it longer than I did.