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Re: (meteorobs) Peculiar meteor seen in binoculars

.>>  It was about +1 or +0
and went pretty much straight down in the west, more or
less below Vega. <<

This description tells me that the meteor is quite far off, if it gave the appearance of moving straight down.

>> The odd thing is that it had no train or
trail or wake or anything like that -- it fit very well
the old expression "a falling star".<<

It probably had at least a wake, but you were too far away to perceive it. Fast meteors are more likely to produce a visible wake/train than slow meteors. This is due mostly to fast meteors having more energy to make a wake, that can be seen by an observer on the ground. Slow meteors still produces a wake, but are too dim to be noticed all that much from the observing distances involved.

 >>I've seen at least
one other one that looked like that.  How common are
meteors with no train or wake, no streak but just a
rapidly moving starlike point of light?  <<

Fairly common for medium to slow speed meteors....especially if very far off to give the appearance of falling straight down. If somewhat low to the horizon, you could have extinction doing it's thing also.  If you combine relatively slow speed 0 or +1 meteors, far distances and perhaps extinction, I'd think you would be very lucky to see wake/trains.
GeoZay