Rod (cryptozoology)
For some time rods were inexplicable phenomena that appeared in the image material during video recordings, but also in photos. These are bright, rod-like objects that are between a few centimeters to several meters long, have a membrane on the sides for locomotion, similar to cuttlefish , and move very quickly through the air, rowing or screwing. Due to their speed, they cannot be seen with the naked eye and can only be recorded with cameras with very short shutter speeds. Explanations ranged from unknown forms of life to optical phenomena and assumed extraterrestrial existences . Rods were not taken seriously by reputable cryptozoologists , however , because it is easy to explain what causes these phenomena.
In fact, rods are very fast-flying animals, such as insects or birds , which on video or image material become "rods" due to the way the cameras are recording. They are caused by motion blur when cameras record with relatively slow shutter speeds in poor lighting conditions . The animals' fast flight and the flapping of their wings create characteristic objects that combine the path and several flaps of an animal's wings. The length of the object corresponds to the duration of the shutter speed.
The effect is mainly caused in animals with long, slender bodies and large wings. The interlacing of a video recording creates the characteristic gap between two recordings of a rod. Because of their characteristics and appearance, they are often referred to as insect snakes and bird hybrids. Rods watched on surveillance cameras could be caught with nets and exposed as common insects, confirming that this phenomenon is not an unknown life form.
See also
literature
- Robert Carroll: The Skeptic's Dictionary: A Collection of Strange Beliefs, Amusing Deceptions, and Dangerous Delusions. John Wiley & Sons, 2011, ISBN 1118045637 , p. 340.