Magnetic probe measurements in three dimensions (>15 000 positions) and time in a large laboratory plasma (ne≥1011 cm-3, kTe≥1 eV, B0=20 G, 1 m diam¿2.5 m length) reveal the plasma currents J=∇¿B/&mgr;0 excited by a pulsed (Δt=100 ns), stationary, tethered pair of electrodes (≈1 cm diam., 20 cm spacing ⊥B0). The plasma currents for a moving, dc-current carrying electrodynamic tether are obtained by a superposition of delayed pulses emitted at successively displaced tether positions. The transient plasma currents are carried by low-frequency whistlers instead of Alfv¿n waves and form a 3D wing structure but no long phantom loop due to cross-field Hall current shunting.