Lec sees a huge, very bright object in the Southern sky (actual seeing, not a vision)

01/04/11
Last night on my way to the parking lot of our office at around 7:00 PM, I called the attention of my officemate who was to ride with me to a huge, very bright object in the Southern sky. Our regular day off is at 7:00 pm and it is always my instinct to gaze upwards at the night sky. This was the first time I saw it, too large for a star. I even asked my officemate if that object was a beacon light on a tall building to indicate how bright and seemingly close it was. As we continued walking to the parking lot, the object slowly faded into view as it appeared to get smaller and smaller. Tonight, I again looked up the same direction but that bright object was nowhere to be seen. My interest on the bright object was re-ignited after I saw a thread on GLP where many people from various places around the world saw the same object I saw with an officemate. What is it?

Here is the  link to the GLP thread:

http://www.godlikeproductions.com/forum1/message1308544/pg1