A horizontal wind blowing through a region where auroral bombardment produces metastable O2('Δg) molecules transports the excited species downstream. Absence of collisional deactivation and a long radiative life-time result in 1.27-&mgr;m radiation that may be observed several hundred kilometers downwind at locations entirely devoid of energetic particle bombardment and the usual prompt emissions characteristic of aurora. These circumstances can lead to large 1.27 &mgr;m/4278 ¿ emission rate ratios as well as large absolute emission rates of 1.27 &mgr;m, and thus help to account for some unusual observations reported in the literature.