I was driving to work down antelope rd. in citrus heights ca. i looked to my left and saw a bright white light with what looked like a cone shaped mist of fog. it then emitted a bright spotlight towards the ground. i thought it was a helicopter but as i kept looking i did not see any flashing lights. at one point i saw a plane fly by it and could clearly see the planes flashing lights. when the object turned off its spotlight i decided to try to catch a video of it. unfortunately by the time i started recording the object was much dimmer. at its brightest it was as luminous as the moon. after i stopped recording i noticed a strange wispy looking cloud/contrail in a looping type of pattern.