What the heck are those things? What on earth
could those be? That had to be the thoughts of New Mexico Rod pioneer
Jose Escamilla, when he first noticed things flying through the frames
of his video tape. Jose was the first to really notice and pursue the
Rod's phenomenon, from the Roswell area of New Mexico. For those of
you who do not know what Rods are, they seem to be life forms that are
of unknown origin that fly through the skies at a very fast pace. They
fly so fast that you can't really catch them by just looking with your
own eyes.
Enter the video camera age. In order to
really see "Rods" you have to aim your camera at a section
of the sky with the zoom out to a normal range. Jose Escamilla
suggests that you get a tree or a telephone pole into the shot for
reference as well. You must also use a higher shutter speed on your
camera for best results. This method Jose calls "sky
fishing". If you point your camera in this fashion slightly
skyward etc. You may be surprised to find that when you view the tape
again, in slow frame mode, there will appear to be these elongated
"things" that fly to and fro in the picture. There also
appears to be several different types of rods also. Some seem to be
almost ufo like in nature, and others, seem like living undulating
centipede like flying organisms. So, that is how you can capture your
own "Rods" on tape, by sky fishing with this method. Oh and
have the focus on the infinity setting and on manual too.
When Jose first came out with his story in
the local area of New Mexico, a sceptical television crew came to
capture his story about rods. Using Jose's "sky fishing"
protocols, the TV crew set up their own test to see if they could
catch these flying critters on tape. They were not disappointed
either. Using the method, the TV crew also got their own top quality
Rod video's. They were simply amazed that it was happening just as
Jose said it would. The sceptical reporters and cameramen had a new
viable mystery on their hands now. They tried everything in the world
to explain away how this could have happened. Unfortunately they
couldn't make any progress toward that end. They became believers as
well.
One of the best video's of Rods was taken by
a crew down in Mexico's "Cave of the Swallows". This
vertical cave is used as a base jumping platform by people from around
the world. One film crew took digital camera's to capture the action
of the base jumpers. To their surprise, "Rods" were flying
to an fro all around the cave and the jumpers as well. Like giant
flying insects, these rods fly in the most graceful but yet speedy
manner that you could imagine. They fly in normal motions, as a
fighter jet would, by banking and turning in a normal fashion. The
speed with which they do this is incredible. This video is really
amazing to watch though. It is very clear and the still frames of it,
show the rods as flying flattened out centipede like critters that
undulate when they fly. Hard to believe, but it is very convincing.
So what are Rods? That is a good question.
The answer is that no one knows yet either. They are just another in
the long list of phenomenon that we don't understand. Where do rods
sleep when they get tired? Do rods get tired at all? Why haven't we
seen a rod sleeping on a log out in the woods before? Where do rods go
when they die? Don't they fall out of the sky and splat onto like a
parking lot from time to time? What do rods eat? Can we buy "rod
food" at Wal-Mart and keep them for pets? Since they are so fast,
what is the big hurry anyway? Slow down a bit so we can see you
without our camera's. (Sort of reminds me of my ex-wife. She could
talk faster than I could listen. I was always tempted to tape her and
then slow the tape down so I could hear all of the words she was
saying.) Rods are just too quick to be of any good to us though. If we
could catch one, somebody would just figure out how to make rod stew
out of them. Get it Rod Stew(art)? Then we'd have people trying to
cash in on them too. Federal Express would surely try to developed a
mail sack for them to deliver overnight letters in, but with rods, it
could be "next minute delivery" to most parts of the
country.
Well there you have it. The latest newbie in
the phenomenon world. There is compelling evidence for the existence
of Rods, but yet just like so many others, no real conclusive no doubt
evidence. We don't have any in a lab to cut up, so therefore until
that day, we can tape them with our camera's and watch them flying
around laughing at us for being such slow land locked creatures. It
sure is an odd place out there sometimes...Gtars said it.
