The third remarkable cosmic ray storm in more than two decades of continuous observations commenced on February 14, 1978. In contrast with its two predecessors (July 11, 1959 and August 4, 1972), the magnitude of the decrease at equatorial-viewing stations significantly exceeded (~ a factor of 2) that at stations in both polar regions. Thus, in contrast with the usual situation characterized by some degree of north-south asymmetry, this unique event manifested an equator-pole bidirectional anisotropy indicating a symmetrical cosmic ray density gradient rising from the equatorial plane. The nucleonic intensity data suggest that the solar plasma regime responsible for the modulation on this occasion engulfed the earth in a symmetrical configuration with respect to the equator. As is the case for the basic diurnal variation, the modulation varies as cos &lgr;*, where &lgr;* is the weighted mean latitude of the viewing direction.