Mass resolved fluxes of Ba+ and Sr+ ions were measured with the Quadrupole Ion Mass Spectrometer during the CRRES G-11b chemical release experiment in darkness. The flux of Sr+ relative to Ba+ at a distance of 4 km from the release point was more than ten times larger than expected based on estimated charge transfer cross sections of the ground state metals. In each metal, we have identified at least one low-lying metastable state that is closer to charge-transfer resonance with O+ than the ground state. These metastable states are 5s5p 3P2 in Sr at 14,899 cm-1 above the ground state and 6s5d 3D3 in Ba at 9,597 cm-1. The Sr 5s5p 3P2 state is nearly exactly resonant with O+ (9 meV energy defect) and may have a significantly enhanced charge transfer cross section. In a proposed mechanism that may explain the measured ion fluxes, neutral metal atoms are excited to these metastable states by electron-atom collisions early in the expansion of the neutral cloud. High energy electrons could be produced by a plasma process such as CIV. This energy is stored in the neutral cloud. The metastable atoms are ionized by near-resonant charge exchange with ambient O+ and are detected after the cloud expands to reach the spacecraft.