IS 1308+326 A BL LACERTAE OBJECT OR A QUASAR

The active galaxy 1308 + 326 (z = 0.996) has been classified as a BL L acertae object because of its nearly featureless optical continuum and high and variable polarization. New VLBI polarization images of 1308 + 326, however, show both VLBI polarization structure and tentative su perluminal motions that are characteristic of quasars rather than BL L acertae objects. These data strongly suggest that this source is simpl y a quasar with emission lines of small equivalent width. We discuss t he possibility that the optical continuum is enhanced by microlensing in a foreground galaxy, as suggested by Stickel et al.