The neutrality of this article is disputed. Please see the discussion on the talk page.

Rods, a rather new entry in the field of Cryptozoology, are creatures said to flit about in the air at such a high speed as to not be seen by the naked eye. Rods appear to be observational artifacts produced by rapidly flying animals. Practically all sightings of rods are based on video evidence, due to the propensity of video cameras to produce characteristic stroboscopic artifacts when imaging rapidly flying animals, especially insects, but also including birds. Their recent popularity seems to be a result of media exposure in television and in tabloids. Jose Escamilla, who runs the website RoswellRods.com, has appeared in numerous interviews and television "investigations". Image File history File links Unbalanced_scales. ... Pen and wash drawing by malacologist Pierre Denys de Montfort, 1801, from the descriptions of French sailors reportedly attacked by a Kraken off the coast of Angola. ... Nudity is a common subject both in fine arts and popular culture. ... Video is the technology of capturing, recording, processing, transmitting, and reconstructing moving pictures, typically using celluloid film, electronic signals, or digital media, primarily for viewing on television or computer monitors. ... Newspaper sizes in August 2005. ...

Description

Rods gain their name from their rodlike shape. However, they have also been called "flying rods", "skyfish" and "solar entities". They appear to be anywhere from 5 inches to 1 meter in length, and it is proposed by that they have a thin membrane across their axis that is used for propulsion through the air, in a manner similar to the way a cuttlefish uses its fins. A biological membrane or biomembrane is a membrane which acts as a barrier within or around a cell. ... Families Sepiadariidae Sepiidae Cuttlefish are marine animals of the order Sepiida belonging to the Cephalopoda class (which also include squids, octopuses and nautilus). ...

Explanations

Rods are not taken seriously even by most cryptozoologists. All evidence points to the conclusion that they are mere tricks of light that result from how images (primarily video images) are recorded and played back. In particular, the fast passage before the camera of an insect flapping its wings has been shown directly to produce rod-like effects, due to motion blur in the two interlaced image fields that compose each video frame, lasting 1/60th of a second (NTSC video format). This criticism points to video being physically unable to capture a clean image of something that moves so fast relative to the camera. In particular, the "membrane" in a video frame of a rod is effectively a time-lapse of the wings of the flying animal in different positions over several wingbeats, while the central "rod" is a time-lapse image of the body, related to the distance traveled in 1/60th of a second. The effect is especially pronounced with large, long-bodied insects that have broad wings and fairly slow wingbeats, such as mantises, grasshoppers, and katydids, or completely opaque wings such as moths. On video equipment that resolves the two fields, the "rod" effect can be seen to alternate from one field to the other, producing the distinctive gaps between successive images ([1]). Similar results can be produced using standard film, if there is a long exposure and/or a stroboscopic lighting effect that lasts more than a single wingbeat. This is the technical evidence, demonstrating that one can produce "rod" effects at will if one uses the right equipment, lighting, and subject. An optical illusion is characterized by visually perceived images that, at least in common sense terms, are deceptive or misleading. ... This section needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Interlacing is a method of displaying images on a raster-scanned display device, such as a cathode ray tube (CRT). ... NTSC is the analog television system in use in Korea, Japan, United States, Canada and certain other places, mostly in the Americas (see map). ... Mantis is Greek for prophet. ... For other uses, see Grasshopper (disambiguation). ... Subfamilies See text. ... A moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly. ...

Flying Rod mystery solved

In the early autumn of 2005, news bulletins in China and Hong Kong reported on a story which debunked the flying rods. Surveillance cameras in a research facility in Jilin supposedly captured video footage of flying rods identical to those shown in Jose Escamilla's video. The curious research staff of the facility, being scientists, decided that they would attempt to catch one. Huge nets were set up and the same surveillance cameras captured rods flying into the trap. When the nets were inspected, the "rods" were no more than regular moths and other flying insects. Subsequent investigations proved that the appearance of flying rods on video was an optical illusion created by the slower recording speed of the camera (done to save video space). This is the empirical evidence, showing that the "rods" themselves can be captured, and that they do indeed prove to be ordinary animals.

Rods in fiction

• There is an enemy in the video game Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow called Sky Fish, which normally appears in some places in the game as a white flash blitzing across the screen. The game itself also provides a Time-Stopper ability for the hero to actually see Sky Fish moving in slow-motion, and this is the only way to defeat it.

• Rods are also mentioned in the anime Zettai Shounen as being possibly related to the flying objects seen in the valley where the story takes place.

• The anime series Eureka Seven contains rod-like creatures known as skyfish. The main differences are that they are shaped more like boomerangs than rods and are easily seen in flight by the naked eye. Their wingless flight is explained as a result of their ability to "surf" on light particles in the air, like a solar sail.

• In the Cthulhu Mythos short story The Terror from the Depths by Fritz Leiber, rod-like underground creatures called winged worms torment the main character with the idea that he might be destined to become one of them (in a soul connection resembling the imagery used by the otherkin subculture).

• In the role-playing game d20 Modern in the d20 Menace Manual, Rods are listed as extra-terrestrial insects which are attracted to psionic energy and pose a threat to persons who use psionics by flying at them at extremely high velocity.

• In series 6 of the manga and anime Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, the character Liquiel controls a "stand" named Sky High, which resembles a Rod.

Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow is a game that is a part of the Castlevania video game series. ... Absolute Boy ) is a 26-episode Japanese anime series produced by Bandai Visual, which premiered from May 21, 2005 to November 19, 2005, and which was broadcast by the anime television network, Animax, across its respective networks worldwide, including Japan, East Asia, Southeast Asia, and other regions. ... Eureka Seven or Psalms of Planets Eureka seveN ) is a mecha anime by Bandai Entertainment and BONES. There are three video games by Bandai. ... Concept image of a solar sail spacecraft in the process of unfurling sails. ... Cthulhu Mythos is the term coined by the writer August Derleth to describe the shared elements, characters, settings, and themes in the works of H. P. Lovecraft and associated writers. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Otherkin is a subculture made up of people who describe themselves as being non-human or having a connection to a mythical archetype in some way, usually believing themselves to be mythological or legendary creatures. ... As understood in sociology, anthropology and cultural studies, a subculture is a set of people with a distinct set of behavior and beliefs that differentiate them from a larger culture of which they are a part. ... d20 Modern is a roleplaying game designed by Bill Slavicsek, Jeff Grubb, Rich Redman, and Charles Ryan. ... JoJos Bizarre Adventure , alternatively translated as JoJos Venture) is a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Hirohiko Araki. ... A stand (スタンド sutando) is a supernatural power in the manga and anime JoJos Bizarre Adventure. ... Sky High is the name of a 1975 single by British pop music group, Jigsaw. ...

External links

• Jose Escamilla's "Rods" Video Sequences (a very thorough debunking)
• Straight Dope report: What's up with "rods," the mysterious insects that can be seen only on video?
• Shannon L. Story's Rods: Facts or Fiction, You Decide
• Scroll to the bottom of this page and click on the video link to watch a documentary produced by Zhejiang TV debunking the flying rod (in Chinese)
• Sci-Fi Show:Proof Positive Evidence/Paranormal:Rods On 3-22-06, at 15:00 (3 pm), The Sci-Fi Channel had shown this matter, episode involving these rod-like creatures.
• The Cryptid Zoo: Air Rods in Cryptozoology
• Fortean Times examines the evidence
• Mainichi MSN report: "Aging angler swears there's nothing better than feel of invisible mountain skyfish"
• UTube "rod shaped flying creatures that cant be seen with the nakid eye. . ."