  We evaluate the emission that must arise due to reflection of the putative
collimated X-ray radiation of SS 433 by atomic gas and molecular clouds in the
Galactic plane and compare the predicted signal with existing RXTE and ASCA
data for the region of interest. Assuming that the intrinsic X-ray spectrum of
SS 433 is similar to that of ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs), we obtain an
upper limit of $\sim 2\times 10^{39}$ erg s$^{-1}$ on its total
(angular-integrated) luminosity in the 2--10 keV energy band, which is only
weakly dependent on the half-opening angle, $\Theta_r$, of the emission cone.
In contrast, the upper limit on the apparent luminosity of SS 433 (that would
be perceived by an observer looking at its supercritical accretion disk
face-on) decreases with increasing $\Theta_r$ and is $\sim 3\times 10^{40}$ erg
s$^{-1}$ for $\Theta_r\gtrsim\Theta_p=21\deg$, where $\Theta_p$ is the
precession angle of the baryonic jets (assuming that the emission cones precess
in the same manner as the jets). This leaves open the possibility that SS 433
is a misaligned ULX. Further investigation of the reflection signal from the
molecular clouds using higher angular resolution observations could improve
these constraints with the potential to break the degeneracy between $ \Theta_r
$ and the apparent luminosity.
