You can almost bet this is a nova - John Seach is a legend of 'nova-hunting'. There's also another object in Scorpius that I managed to confirm yesterday morning, PNV J17180658-3204279. Much fainter at mag 11 but it's a red or reddened object and looks good for a nova. Dimmer because of localised extinction and needs a spectrum. Discovered by Hideo Nishimura who already has 20 novae to his credit!
http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/unco...8-3204279.html
Cheers -