Rods were a unique mystery. They were a mystery that was taken up for research by ufologists, crypto zoologists and paranormal researchers. Rods are strange objects that seem to streak through video and photos. They can appear to glow or even appear to have a strange structure. The rods that ufologists and crypto zoologists researched tended to look as if some sort of craft or unknown insect propelled itself through the air with an undulating set of wings. The rods that paranormal researchers pursued tended to be strange streaks of light. The line was occasionally blurred between a vortex and a rod.

The picture above is a strange rod that seems to have been captured mid flight. Notice how the rod seems to streak out from the right and is caught mid-frame. It glows and seems to leave a trail of light in its wake.

This rod is actually a spider web. The light from the flash lit up a section of the web. It appears to stop at mid-frame because of the complexity of spider silk. Spiders actually can produce up to seven different types of silk. This happens to be one of the strong support silk strands connecting to the lighter silk that makes up the body of the web.

So, you might wonder about some of the other rods captured on film or video that are very obviously not spider web. The streaks of light that move at strange angles and seem to glow must be paranormal, right?

Actually, these typically tend to be caused by the same limitations of camera lenses that can cause orbs. Another aspect comes into play for the case of rods. Rods caused by insects, fast moving dust particles or camera straps appear to glow because the lens cannot focus on them (as is the case of orbs caused by lenses not focused on dust passing close to them). They appear to leave trailing streaks or look like long rods of light because of slower shutter speeds.

When shooting in dark areas, digital cameras have to adjust either their ISO speed or shutter speed. Video cameras do the same thing. ISO speed is essentially the speed at which film or digital ccd chips capture the image. The higher the ISO speed, the faster the film reacts to light or the quicker the ccd chip captures the image. ISO plays little in the capture of rods on film or digital cameras. Shutter speed is the main culprit.

A slower shutter speed means the film or ccd is exposed to the image longer. For example, high speed cameras have super high shutter speeds which means they can capture images so quickly that they appear to freeze fast moving objects. Now reverse that process for regular cameras. A slow shutter speed means that the shutter will be open longer in order to allow the film to capture the image. However, if something moves through the image during the time that the film or ccd is exposed. How will that moving object appear on the captured image? It will look like a rod.

So, now that we've explained a few natural causes for rods, let's examine the possibility of rods as they relate to paranormal activity.