Unusual aurora-like patches have been observed equatorward of the diffuse auroral boundary by the ISIS-2 scanning auroral photometer. These rare features are observed predominantly in the evening sector and appear to corotate with the earth and to have lifetimes longer than two hours. Their occurrence coincides with positive going changes in the horizontal component of the earth's magnetic field (Dst). The patches are evidently excited mainly by electrons of energy somewhat higher than that of particles precipitating into the diffuse aurora (as evidenced by the lower average I(5577 ¿)/I(3914 ¿) ratio and the weakness of the red line (6300 ¿) emission). While intensities in the patches fall in the same range as in the ''normal'' auroras poleward, total input power in a typical patch (108 watts) is a small fraction (.1%) of that in the auroral oval due to the different areas involved. The position of the patches leads to the conclusion that the particles creating them originate near the plasmapause.