Recent results from the ROSAT All Sky Survey , and from deep ROSAT pointings reveal that broad absorption line quasars ( BALQSOs ) are weak in the soft X-ray bandpass ( { \alpha _ { ox } } > 1.8 ) in comparison to QSOs with normal OUV spectra ( \overline { { \alpha _ { ox } } } = 1.4 ) .
One glaring exception appeared to be the nearby BALQSO PG 1416–129 , which is a bright ROSAT source showing no evidence for intrinsic soft X-ray absorption .
We present here our new HST FOS spectrum of PG 1416–129 , in which we find no evidence for BALs .
We show that the features resulting in the original BAL classification , based on { \em IUE } spectra , were probably spurious .
On the basis of UV , X-ray and optical evidence , we conclude that PG 1416–129 is not now , and has never been a BALQSO .
Our result suggests that weak soft X-ray emission is a defining characteristic of true BALQSOs .
If BALQSOs indeed harbor normal intrinsic spectral energy distributions , their observed soft X-ray weakness is most likely the result of absorption .
The ubiquitous occurrence of weak soft X-ray emission with UV absorption ( BALs ) thus suggests absorbers in each energy regime that are physically associated , if not identical .