A physical model is proposed to relate and explain the data obtained during a radio aurora event which occurred during the International Geophysical Year. One of Boström's electrojet models and the Farley two-stream instability form the basis of this model. The echoes obtained during the event were found to originate in the plasma bands associated with the visual forms and the orientation of the electric field was found to be east–west, which is in agreement with that predicted by the magnetospheric convection model of Brice.