Observing the fine triple star Sigma Orionis last night (March 12), I saw an object moving within my field of view. I suppose it must have been an artificial satellite, but because its behavior differed from what I've usually seen for these objects, I am asking what it was. At some time between 9:00 and 10:00 pm PST on 3/12/06, this object appeared in the starfield around R.A. 5h 39m, decl. -2ยบ36', moving in a general east-south-easterly direction, but instead of presenting a steady glow it was blinking on and off. Mostly it was off, but every 3 seconds or so its light came on for about half a second at the brightness of a star of about 8th or 9th magnitude (I compared it to the star at the eastern point of the arrow-like asterism that includes Sigma Orionis in its middle). The object moved fairly slowly, covering about 3 to 5 arcminutes between each of its blinks that occurred about 3 seconds apart. What was I seeing?
NexStar 8i SCT, Orion 80ED APO refractor, Orion 120 mm EQ refractor, 3.5-inch Questar