When I could finally talk about it, the first person I called was my father. He could tell how distressed I was and told me that he and his brother made a telescope in the early 50’s and saw one. What they saw sounds exactly like this:
https://youtube.com/shorts/uSk9UL6WWKI?si=0rADT_KXNrHEaUt_
Weird video.
What my cousins saw, IIRC, was on the ground in a field. It was pretty close to the family cemetery, but I doubt if that had anything to do with it.