I’ve just watched ‘Rods’ on Sky 1 and it was quite interesting, do you believe that these Rods exist? Or can they be explained in a different way?
More info needed. Plus, since the majority of dopers are US-based, they won’t know what Sky 1 is!
Rods don’t exist; they appear on film and video because the frame capture rate/shutter speed is slower than the wingbeat of an ordinary insect flying past the lens; as it flies past, it appears as a blurry streak with a wavy line on either side (which is the path described by the insect’s wings as they beat up and down).
Nobody has ever found the dead body of a ‘rod’, why is this?
I saw the ads for it on Sky1, but didn’t watch it.
Most people explain them away as hoaxes or artifacts of the camera. They seem to have come into vogue in the mdeia about 5 years ago, and there were a rash of American TV specials on them.
Basically, in most cases they are dismissed as “obvious hoaxes”, although, like crop circles, the hoaxers are not often found nor do they come forward very often.
There is a wealth of information on the Web out there, leaning about 90% believers/10% skeptics. One place to start for the skeptical view is the Skeptics Dictionary Rods page.
If I may just cut’n’paste an e-mail I sent to a friend yesterday on the same subject.
This is probably my laziest post to date.
SD
Also, see this staff report.