My girlfriend and I were in Palm Springs in the late 80's at our hotel. It was early evening, about the time you would start to see stars come out. Especially noticable in the desert.

I was out on the balcony sitting and enjoying the warm night and we had been ready to go out for the evening. I noticed two very bright lights flickering high up up in the sky and asked her to come out and look. We were both amazed at how bright they were. I remember asking her since they were so bright, which one would be the north star. We thought that since they were so bright that maybe one was the north star and one may be a plane. 
We sat and stared at them for about 20 minutes to 1/2 hour and they did not move an inch. They just flickered. We just couldn't figure out why these two stars were so bright and next to each other. 
Well, we got bored looking and continued getting ready. About 15-20 minutes later we were ready to leave. When we went back out both of those bright stars, lights or whatever they were completely gone?
Witness indicates that date and time of the incident is approximate.  One of three reports from same witness.  PD