Observations of flux transfer events - Are FTEs flux ropes, islands, or surface waves?

A reexamination is conducted of evidence for the suggestion that flux-transfer events (FTEs) are related to a nontime-stationary reconnection process, giving attention to the ways in which combined field and plasma variations imply that FTEs are magnetic flux ropes. Both time-varying single x-line and multiple x-line reconnection are able to disturb the surrounding plasma, generating a signature that mimics the flux rope while lacking its topology. While any localized perturbation of the magnetopause surface can produce such a signature, evidence can be adduced against a surface-wave explanation of FTEs.