A 50-MHz Doppler radar interferometer and a 138-MHz Doppler radar were operated from Kennedy Space Center to study 3-m and 1-m plasma waves associated with two shaped-charged barium releases from Wallops Island, Virginia, on May 13, 1986. During the first release, interferometer and Doppler power spectral studies showed the existence of short-lived (<2 s) coherent 3-m and 1-m waves centered near 30 Hz. The 3-m waves were located about 100 km above the release on a magnetic field line in contact with the first release. No radar backscatter was observed by the radars during the second release. The coherent 30-Hz radar echoes associated with the first barium release are very similar to some natural occurring auroral radar echoes that are believed to be generated by resistive current-driven electrostatic ion cyclotron waves. A detailed linear dispersion analysis of electrostatic ion cyclotron (EIC) waves showed that only 3-m O+ EIC waves were unstable for field-aligned electron drifts greater than 0.7vthe at the altitude of 510 km in a multispecies (O+, NO+, or similarly O2+) ionospheric plasma. We interpret the 30-Hz waves seen by the two radars far above the release as strong electrostatic ion cyclotron waves generated by intense field-aligned currents associated with the barium stream acting like an MHD generator coupled to the ionosphere. ¿American Geophysical Union 1990