A few years back there was a guy leading overnight tours into the desert northwest of Vegas, the Area 51 region, promising "guaranteed UFO sightings." Sure enough, right over the "base that isn't there" at 4:30 or 5:00 each morning, a bright light would appear -- and seem to hover for a minute or so before fading from view.

What these maroons were seeing was the early-morning Janet shuttle's landing lights, head-on.

Janet a/c are a bunch of unmarked ex-Western 737s. Ownership is murky and undiscussed; it's either Air Force or a govt. subcontractor like EG&G. They're a common sight at McCarran, and they fly to some pretty uncommon places. If anyone can report on what the inflight breakfast is like, I'd be interested.