The propagation of electrostatic plasma wave packets in the auroral E region has been studied using kinetic theory and is found to confirm previous results obtained using fluid theory, which showed that the wave packet travels at high speed nearly parallel to the magnetic field, except possibly for a small height interval in which it is reflected upward. The principal effect of decreasing the plasma wavelength is to increase the group velocity and to sharpen any reversal in propagation. Effects on the propagation of enhanced electron collision frequencies are also examined. It is shown that under some circumstances it might be possible to observe these wave packet motions experimentally. By comparing propagation speeds with estimates of wave packet lifetimes, it is found that linear growth rates can probably not be used to estimate amplitudes of meter scale waves. ¿American Geophysical Union 1987