An anomalous quasielastic component has been observed in the light scattering spectra of several heavy metal oxide glasses. This component consists of a depolarized ’’central peak’’ of frequency width less than &angupr;0.5 cm−1, depending on temperature and composition. Observations are reported here for eight different compositions, all containing either transition metal or rare earth oxides. The integrated intensity for glasses whose major constituent is Tb2O3correlates well with Tb concentration, while the linewidth is insensitive to Tb concentration as well as host composition.