In a study of the mobility of ions in liquid He I1 in the temperature range 0.89 'K to ~. O " K , the existence of the sharp periodic velocity discontinuities, first detected by Careri, was confirmed. The discontinuities were found to occur at integral values of a critical drift velocity U,' = 5.21 I. 0.08 m s-' for positive ions, and U; = 2.12 & 0.16 m s-' for negative ions. Velocities were measured by a time-of-flight method, and at low values of the grid-source field, the previously undetected first discontinuity of the negative ions was found. Measurements were made of the magnitude Ap and shape of the first three discontinuities. The constant Ap values found for successive discontinuities and the observed lack of dependence of A p on the grid-collector separation are in disagreement with the predictions of the vortex ring creation theory of Huang and Olinto.The proposal is made that the discontinuities are not hydrodynamic in origin but are associated with ionic excitation into vibrational states. These states may be produced by a specific type of inelastic ion-roton collision in which the forward motion of the ion is reduced during dethermalization of the roton. The decrease in forward velocity of the ion is then responsible for the discontinuity. The flight path of the ion is assumed to be analogous to a Franck-Hertz process.