Normally it has a low Zenithal Hourly Rate (ZHR), but occasionally it produces much more intense meteor storms that last less than an hour: such outbursts were observed in 1925, 1935, 1985, and 1995.

[1] Peter Jenniskens predicted the 1995 return based on the hypothesis that these outbursts were caused by the dust trail of a long period comet occasionally wandering in Earth's path due to planetary perturbations.

During observations in southern Spain, assisted by a team of observers of the Dutch Meteor Society, Jenniskens confirmed that the meteoroids were moving in a long-period comet orbit.

The outburst of 1995 allowed researchers to determine the exact radiant of the swarm and the solar longitude of its peak as well as to confirm the brevity of Alpha Monocerotid outbursts as less than one hour.

[4][5] However, in the event, though the peak occurred at 05:00 UTC, the rate was much lower than predicted.