I would like to confirm what others have already reported about the recent strange behavior of Iridium 18. I was out tonight (2/6/98 02h19UT (22h19EDT)) to observe a predicted -7.4 magnitude flare of Iridium 18 from my location (46.853N,70.953W). Iridium 17 produced a flare as expected a few minutes earlier, so I was staring exactly at the same place this flare occured to watch Iridium 18 flare (Az 45, El 36). No flare occured but I glimpsed from the corner of the eye a few rapid flashes east of Vega (Az 76, El 42) less than one minute after the time of the predicted flare. I tought at first it was a plane and didn't want to watch closer to avoid missing the flare, but it couldn't be a plane since it disappeared so rapidly (roughly 5 degrees) and followed the exact path of Iridium 18. Am I correct in assuming that Iridium 18 is now spinning on it's nadir-to-zenith axis? If so does anyone has an idea why the flashes are separated by 30 degrees from the predicted flare? Clement Drolet Beaumont, Qc, Canada cdrolet@globetrotter.qc.ca