LAST EDITED ON 10-16-13 AT 10:47 AM (EST)

Early this morning (apx. 0530) as I was leaving the house for work, I followed my usual habit of taking a few minutes to admire the sky. Very clear, still dark enough to have Orion & Canis Major dominate the southern sky, along with Mars hanging around close to Regulus to the east.

I noticed a bright (nearly as bright as Sirius) star-like object moving fairly rapidly from the SSW to NNE. This is close enough to the path of the International Space Station (which I've seen numerous times) that I assumed this to be another satellite, but traveling much faster than the ISS.

But then it took a wide turn to the right and proceeded to execute several other looping maneuvers while crossing through Orion and Taurus. It then returned back to its original starting point. It kept its star-like appearance and there was no way to estimate its altitude or size.

I will call this a UFO because it was certainly flying and it's quite unidentified.

The maneuvers were certainly hawk-like, and I have seen a hawk in the area, but it's a dark brown, so this object's bright starishness is a puzzlement.