Car starts when jumped, but dies right after. Not the alternator, what could be wrong?

I have a 6 cyl 99 grand am, the battery light came on, then the usual symptoms of a failing alternator. ABS light, emergency break light, trac control light, yada yada, then finally the air bag light. Then the car died. We jumped the grand am, it started up just fine, but once disconnected from the other car it died. I had the alternator checked at 2 different places and it checked out just fine. Had the battery recharged and checked and no cells are dead. Does anyone know what this could possibly be? I did happen to notice a thick red wire coming from side bolt of the alternator. I'm not sure now if that should be attached to the positive battery terminal or if it should be grounded. Any help is much appreciated.