Status of the Perseus optical flasher

The region near the Aries-Perseus border was monitored using a variety of instruments in order to determine if optical flashes exist in this region. A 1-m and a 0.4-m f/15 Cassegrain reflector and an intensified CCD camera coupled to a 0.14-m F/3.6 Schmidt Newtonian were used for the 76 hours of monitoring. No flashes were detected in this region during this period. The short duration optical flashes observed by Katz et al. (1985) are examined. It is noted that the observations of Katz et al. are not verified and that the observations of Katz et al. may be a reflection from a satellite, meteors, or high altitude planes.