Metastable atoms emitted from the anode of a hot‐cathode low‐voltage Ar gas discharge produce two peaks in the time‐of‐flight distribution. The slow peak typifies atoms with a thermal velocity distribution in the discharge. The fast peak can be approximated by a Gaussian function, and its dependence on the discharge current, voltage, and pressure is presented. The origin of the fast peak is investigated experimentally and shown to represent fast Ar(3P2,0) from the discharge.