During the PLUMEX I rocket flight from Kwajalein Island, plasma density and electric field fluctuations were measured in situ, simultaneous with ground-based radar backscatter measurements at 0.96-m and 0.36-m wavelengths. The rocket penetrated an extremely turbulent topside region which had associated intense backscatter. As measured by the radar the backscatter power was decaying with time during and after the flight. The intermediate wavelength (0.1--10 km) in situ electron density measurements are described in a companion paper, while here we report the transitional and short wavelength results (&lgr;1, it seems that a wave-wave interaction (cascade) operates to deposit energy in a range where waves are linealry damped. There is a slight suggestion of a spectral change (smaller negative index) for k⊥re>0.2 which may be due to excitation of a lower-hybrid drift wave and which may be related to the observed enhanced backscatter at wavelengths on the order of 1 m. A stability analysis shows that the plasma is near but on the stable side of the marginal stability boundary for the lower-hybrid drift wave in the most intense region of backscatter. In regions devoid of drift waves, evidence is found for an exponential inner-scale cutoff at a wavelength of 200 m.