I'm sorry, Gloria, but for me it doesn't. Maybe it IS a flare, but if it is, it's an awfully, awfully big one. Think Fourth of July "mortar" style fireworks, not something coming out of a Very pistol (which used shells not much bigger than a 12-gauge shotgun shell).
I am not a photo expert. Jeff Glickman is, and right now he has other things to devote his considerable attentions to. My suspicion is that the "dot" is nothing more than either a) A glitch in the developing process, b) Crud on the negative (ask me how I know after years in a newsroom darkroom) or c) A fault on the photographic paper (much less common but known to happen).
LTM, who lets things develop naturally,
Monty Fowler, TIGHAR No. 2189 CER