TITLE: GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT NUMBER: 367 SUBJECT: GRB990704 DATE: 99/07/05 21:06:17 GMT FROM: Fredrick J. Vrba at USNO The U.S. Naval Observatory GRB team (F.J. Vrba, A.A. Henden, C.B. Luginbuhl, B. Canzian, S.E. Levine), D.H. Hartmann (Clemson Univ.) and, M.C. Jennings (IGPP, UCR visitor) reports: The object reported as a possible optical counterpart to GRB 990704 by Maury et al. (GCN 363) was covered by the R-band frames we reported in GCN 365 and also in a single 10-min V-band frame we obtained beginning at UT 1999 July 05:00; immediately after the R-band frame covering the area. The R- and V-band frames go to similar depths. While the object is easily detected in our R-band frame, it is barely seen in the V-band image. Thus, the object is either fairly red or was fading quickly. If red, it is one of a number of objects in this region with similar red colors from visual inspection. Since the GCN 365 observations were unfiltered this could explain why the object was not seen on the DSS. We also note that the object is outside the error circle of the new X-ray source reported by Gandolfi et al. (GCN 364). While these facts do not rule out the GCN 363 source as a possible counterpart, it should probably be given lower priority than observations concentrating on the GCN 364 X-ray position.