A NEW HARD X-RAY SOURCE 15' AWAY FROM 3C-273

We report the detection of hard X-ray emission (40-80 keV) from a location 15' away from 3C 273 at a 5.5-sigma confidence level during a 16 hr observation of a 5 x 5 deg2 sky region containing the QSO 3C 273 and at a less significance level (almost-equal-to 3-sigma) in two other pointings. The analysis done on the SIGMA images is briefly described in order to assess the reality of this detection. The source is certainly variable in the SIGMA operational band by a factor of 2. The search for likely counterparts at other wavelengths has indicated interesting objects, especially in the X-ray band. The implications of this report with respect to source confusion in previous X-ray measurements of 3C 273 are of course extremely important.