It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s.. An atmospheric cryptid of unknown origin? Flying rods are another type of cryptid that hangs out in the skies high above. Are these a species of creature that’s been hidden to us throughout time? Or do they have a different explanation?
Flying rods are a type of atmospheric cryptid. This means they seem to solely exist in the sky, and have even been mistaken for UFOs, though they supposedly are biological (not mechanical) in nature.
They have long, thin bodies (varying between 4 inches and 3 feet long) with undulating fins on either side that seem to be how they propel themselves through the air.
Flying rods have primarily been captured through film and photography, and were supposedly discovered in 1994 by Jose Escamilla (who was attempting to film a UFO at the time).
In film, flying rods appear to be three-dimensional and act with at least some form of intelligence. They are seen following people, flitting about with each other like butterflies, and moving around objects in space (disproving the idea that they may be simply hair on a camera lens).
So what could they be? In August 2005, China Central Television (CCTV) aired a two part documentary on the subject. Security footage at a pharmaceutical company in Tonghua City picked up multiple flying rods.
Looking to figure out what it was, curious scientists set up massive nets to capture the mysterious creatures.
After capturing these rods flying into the nets on film, scientists looked to the nets to find… Ordinary moths!
It turns out that the slower recording speed of the security camera, stuttering, filmed the moths as they moved through space. The moths gained the appearance of rods with undulating flaps on either side: the body of the moth became the rod while the flapping wings gave the appearance of fins.
Cryptozoologists still argue that flying rods could exist as an atmospheric creature. It’s possible that they are some sort of insect, with a translucent carapace. Maybe they are made of extraterrestrial materials we haven’t been exposed to yet. Maybe they’re alternate dimensional beings that prefer to dwell in the clouds.
Or maybe we’re just catching some moths/butterflies on film and getting a little too excited over the resulting phenomena. That’s up to you to decide!
Images of flying rods (both picture and illustration) from Cryptidz.Fandom.com. Image of moths from WikiMedia Commons. All images on this site are free usage!
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