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From: BOB SHELL <76750.2717@compuserve.com>
Date: Tue, 16 Sep 1997 10:54:40 -0400
Fwd Date: Tue, 16 Sep 1997 18:18:22 -0400
Subject: Re: 'Rods'?

>To: UFO UpDates - Toronto <updates@globalserve.net>
>From: Mark Cashman <mcashman@ix.netcom.com>
>Subject: re: UFO UpDate: Re: 'Rods'?
>Date: Tue, 16 Sep 1997 01:41:58 -0700


>First, tell me how you know how long they are. A single photo cannot
>tell that without a shadow cast on an object of known size at a known
>distance with a known sun elevation and azimuth, or without triangulation.

>Second, think about what happens when a shutter is open if an
>insect whips by crossing most of the angular extent of the film
>in the time the shutter is open: it is both blurred and extended
>in appearance. The wings will create a sine wave shape that is
>semi-transparent as opposed to the more solid appearance of the
>body. If the insect is close enough, it will be further blurred,
>because the camera lens is focused beyond it. The sine wave of
>the wing will have a period based on the time the shutter is open,
>the frequency of wing motion, and any wing pitch changes used by
>the insect for attitude correction.

>Some simple calculations can be used to determine how close the insect
>has to be in order to cover a specific area on the film.

>For instance, an insect a little over a half inch long at a distance of a third
>of an inch will cover 10 degrees of the field of view. Of course, the same
>insect can be smaller, so long as it travels 10 degrees in the 60th of a
>second the shutter is open, and its image will still cover 10 degrees of view.
>Or, the insect can be the same size but more distant.

>Thus - rods...


Mark,

Dead on!

Apparent angular velocity at the film plane depends on many factors, and
an insect close to the lens will appear to move much faster than an
airplane at a great distance, something that seems to have been ignored
in all of this.

Let's get some photos of "rods" from the Arctic in the dead of winter!

Bob