"Sparkles" before Iridium glint?

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I saw my first Iridium glint Saturday, Oct 18, at 00:57 UT (Iridium 21) and
01:09 UT(Iridium 17), both from Madison, WI (-89, +43).  The first glint was
subdued, partly by the two street lights shining in my eyes and also because
the satellite was entering the penumbra according to Rob's IRIDFLAR program.
Conditions were so bad, I wasn't even absolutely sure I'd seen it.

I watched the second one from a much better observing position, which turned
out to be my front lawn.  This one was spectacular - Rob's program predicted
mag 1.9, but it was much brighter, somewhere in the low positive mags in my
inaccurate estimation.

Both passes were north to south.  Just before I saw it, when I wasn't really
sure where to look, I thought I saw some flashes from an aircraft's running
lights.  There were a few flashes, then a pause, then some more - kind of
short, random flashes, not at all regular.  I was just lifting my binoculars
to my eyes to get a better look at them when the satellite suddenly sprang
into bright existence just south of where I thought I'd seen the airplane.

After the satellite faded, I was easily able to find it in 7x50 binoculars,
but I never did see any sign of an airplane.  Now that I think of it, I half
remember someone else reporting pre-glint flashes from an Iridium.  Is my
memory correct?  Has anybody else seen short random flashes before the main
Iridium glint?

Dave Mullenix

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