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Husband, who's the one who first spotted and watched this thing with binocs for three to five minutes from upstairs window, with panoramic view, says:

How far north it had traveled before it started its eastward turn? Would say probably started eastward turn 50 miles north of here (Carbon Canyon, between Chino Hills and Brea).

Have not observed shuttle or SR-71 reentry, only shuttle and missile launches.

As for contrails vs burn: it was definitely a surface heat burn -- it was a heat color, a contrail of condensation. Without moisture or condensation, jet engine exhaust is invisible from that altitude; all you can see is jet afterburner if you're close, but you won't see it from this altitude, which he guesses as upper regions of the stratosphere. And it was descending, not going up; it gained speed as it got lower, when first seen it was hardly moving at all, it was so high. Looked to him similar to what you'd see in Gemini reentry where the heat was flaring around the object so it came out in two long curving fingers. There was bright flash momentarily, and snuffed out and kept its burn, and then started making gradual turn to the north. Burn color wasn't white, it was like a pale warm yellow, bright.

Sidenote: SR-71 pilot Bob Gilliland once told husband that it took half the state of Texas to turn the craft around. This plane was over Edwards part of the time we saw it, maybe preparing to angle back for a landing. Who knows. Husband is presently creating a drawing of what it looked like, which I will try to post here later.

From your original post, it must have been ~8:15 PM PDT when you first spotted the object. Am I correct in assuming that the sun had already set (on the ground) at your location by then?

I have seen many interesting aerial phenomena in the hour or two following sunset (when the earth is dark, but the upper atmosphere is still illuminated). For example, the huge, clear polyethylene research baloons that were launched here in TX, went from barely visible against the blue sky to as brilliant as a star. Then, as the sunlight passed through its "red sunset" atmospheric path, the baloon went from bright golden white to golden to coppery, and then, before vanishing, a brilliant fiery red. That is also the time when the beautiful "noctilucent clouds" are sometimes visible. It is also the time when short contrails can look like brilliant, colorful light-emitters against the darkening sky.

BTW, I am an avid, lifelong aircraft watcher. I grew up on the runway approaches to Ellington AFB near Houston (now used by NASA), and, before I got glasses, at one time was able to ID over 50 A/C types by sound alone. As a kid/teenager, I wore out several pairs of binocs (and trashed several screen doors) running outside to look at planes. ;-} I also served as A/C identification instructor for the Cold War-era "Ground Observer Corps".

I really wish I could have been there to observe (whatever you saw) with -- especially with a small telescope available!

My guess is that it may well have been military/experimental, and may have been making a descent/approach to some place like Nellis. (Or, even the mysterious "Groom Lake" (AKA "Area 51"]...)

If what you saw wasn't an ordinary, multi-engine aircraft with sun-illuminated short contrails, I expect it may well have been something like this:

As I said earlier, I'm convinced the US didn't give up the SR-71's capability -- without having something with faster, higher, and stealthier capabilities avalable...

Perhaps you just managed to be looking the right direction at the right time...