An aerosol increase in the lower stratosphere was observed by ground-based lidar at Garmisch-Partenkirchen early in 1982. The source of this aerosol cloud was most probably an unobserved volcanic eruption. Three orbits of the cloud were observed during February and March. The data are consistent with an eruption which probably took place in the first half of January in central Africa or in the general region of the North Pacific Ocean.