Direct Detection of Soft Radiation above 50 Kilometers in the Auroral Zone

In two high-altitude rocket flights of thin-walled Geiger tubes at geomagnetic latitudes 64^∘{} and 74^∘{}N, a considerable intensity of soft radiation has been encountered above 50 kilometers altitude. No such radiation has been found in flights of identical equipment at 88.5^∘{} and at 55.6^∘{}. The radiation is tentatively interpreted as the high-energy tail of the auroral spectrum. It may consist of electrons.