Guys, I won't say this is "normal," but it is not unheard of for dudes to be out on a range in a SUV talking to aircraft, at night, doing strafing runs. Think black SUV, and the occupants wearing cargo pants and baseball caps on backwards. And, given the guys I know, 1.5NM was plenty of room, as they are normally pushing the MSD's.
This would also be the reason why we prefer to use a IR pointer at night, and when doing so, require the aircraft to call tally and visual before they get cleared.
If the guys in this SUV weren't part of the range control or TACP (ie, up on freq), then they were really on their a-game to come up on USAF common or the range net to abort the aircraft.