There are tumbling geosynchronous satellites that have failed due to catastrophic component failure, both before and after deployment into service, or have had their fuel vented at the end of their service life. If the geometry was right, you could have seen the sun off a solar panel or other flat surface. 5 seconds is a fairly fast spin, but if the satellite had a ruptured fuel tank, the off-gassing could have given it one of any number of possible spin patterns.
http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/hattonj...asohp/GEO.HTML has this to say on the subject:
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The observability of geosynchronous satellites varies considerably. Whilst the smallest geosynchronous satellites may be almost impossible to observe visually except with a very large telescope, some non operational satellites may flash as brightly as magnitude +2 - visible to the naked eye even from a light polluted site. The factors which contribute to the brightness & observability of geosynchronous satellites include the nature of reflection of sunlight off the satellite structure (ie. diffuse vs specular reflections), the phase angle (angle between sun, satellite & observer) and whether the satellite is rotating or non rotating.
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Additionally,
this page has some interesting pictures.
Regards,
Eric