Solar wind thermal electrons are normally nearly isotropic, with a temperature anisotropy, T∥/T⊥, of 1.0 to 1.2. This study presents ISEE 3 observations of anomalous electron distributions for which T⊥ exceeds T∥ in the solar wind near 1 AU. Twelve anomaly events were identified, lasting from 24 min to 6 hours. These events generally share the following characteristics: (1) high plasma density, (2) low solar wind speed, (3) magnetic field which is nearly transverse to the flow, and (4) low electron and ion temperatures. The processes of solar wind adiabatic expansion and isotropization via Coulomb collisions could be expected to lead to such anomalous anisotropies under conditions similar to those observed. However, these conditions actually produce T⊥>T∥ for only a small fraction of the time, suggesting that other mechanisms are also important in regulating solar wind electron distributions. ¿ American Geophysical Union 1989