At 1130 UT on November 28, 1995, two spacecraft, Interball-Tail and Ge
otail, were in a favorable position to study the plasma sheet activity
and an auroral breakup observed on the ground near the spacecraft ion
ospheric footpoints. Both spacecraft were near the neutral sheet, and
they were nearly aligned along the magnetic meridian, During the auror
al breakup observed at the equatorward half of the auroral oval (also
registered as an AKR burst at Interball) both spacecraft simultaneousl
y detected signatures of a reconnection pulse: The earthward plasma st
reaming and magnetic field dipolarization were observed at 12 R-E at I
nterball, while the tailward energetic ion beam, then the tailward flo
w and the passage of a plasmoid were observed at 28 R-E at Geotail. Th
is pulse seem to proceed inside of the plasma sheet closed field lines
, in the region of small (similar to 1 nT) background magnetic field a
t the neutral sheet. At Interball position the onset of fast earthward
ion flow, likely initiated by the reconnection pulse, was followed by
other manifestations (dipolarization, enhancements of the magnetic tu
rbulence and the energetic particle flux, the intensification of field
-aligned currents). Auroral observations showed initial brightening de
layed an approximately 1 min after the commencement of the reconnectio
n pulse. The auroral intensification was not accompanied by a signific
ant magnetic disturbance on the ground, and therefore the event can be
classified as the pseudobreakup. We estimate magnetic flux transport
characteristics and possible location of the onset region in the plasm
a sheet. We conclude that observations during this event are consisten
t with the initiation of an auroral breakup by some disturbance (e.g.,
Alfven wave) generated by the reconnection pulse that commenced in th
e neutral sheet at similar to 15 R-E distance.