Under short‐pulse excitation, 0.5–1.0 &mgr;s, O(III) laser emission in the visible and uv is only observed after extinction of the current pulse. The observed high gain and high power (∼100 W) of the 5592.6‐Å line is related to the afterglow character of the lasing. Two new lasing lines of O(III) have been observed at 3757.2 and 3773.8 Å. In pulsed discharges through xenon‐oxygen mixtures, laser emission from xenon occurs during the current pulse, while the lasing from oxygen occurs 0.8 &mgr;s later. The use of the O(III) laser line at 5592.6 Å for the pumping of dye lasers is suggested.