Geotail encounter with reconnection diffusion region in the Earth's magnetotail: Evidence of multiple X lines collisionless reconnection?

On 11 December 1994 the Geotail spacecraft encountered an active reconnection diffusion region around the X line in the Earth's magnetotail. Three interesting features were observed. One is quadrupole pattern of the out‐of‐plane B y magnetic field component during the passage of magnetic islands and the crossing of the neutral sheet. The second is a direction reversal of the electron beams in the vicinity of the separatrix of the magnetic topology of reconnection. The third is a clear plasma flow reversal. By combining the observations of plasma, magnetic field, particles, and waves, this report may provide evidence of multiple X lines collisionless reconnection in the magnetotail at the microscopic level.