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UFO UpDates Mailing List

From: Jim Deardorff <deardorj@proaxis.com>
Date: Fri, 17 Jul 1998 23:17:27 -0700 (PDT)
Fwd Date: Sat, 18 Jul 1998 09:43:53 -0400
Subject: The Rod

Is there an expert on "rods" on this list?  Until yesterday I was
rather of the opinion of Bob Shell, for example, that the "rods"
were likely insects whizzing close by the video camera. But then
I had a sighting of what seems to fall into that category.

It was in mid afternoon, July 16th, 1998, when I was in my front
yard in Corvallis, OR, admiring the blueness of the sky and lack
of smoky smog that day. While still admiring the visibility, I
looked up to watch a plane go by, N to S, at high elevation angle
above the western horizon. While still facing west with my head
turned up, I suddenly saw this whitish thing zoom by from nearly
overhead traveling straight west in a perfectly straight line
till it disappeared in the distance at about 20 degrees elevation
angle. But it was only visible for about 2 seconds, or maybe only
1.5 sec., so fast was it going.

It seemed to be at a considerable height, like 500 or 1000 ft,
and so to be of a size like no insect! It wasn't much like a rod,
but maybe a rod with stubby fins of some sort attached to each
side, and though I'm not sure, the front of it (head) I think was
tapered. Its rigidity was very noticeable; i.e., no flapping
appendages. The linearity of its flight path was the most
impressive thing (relative to what an insect or bird would
exhibit), combined with its speed. And of course no exhaust, no
noise. It was a sort of "misty" white color, with no shaded
underside and no highlights reflecting the sunlight. It
disappeared by a combination of its angular size becomng too
small in the distance, and its contrast with the sky becoming too
weak.

Immediately afterwards I moved my eyeballs around while looking
up at the sky to see if I had any strange "floater" in an eye,
but there were none; but such wouldn't have been the right color
or shape, nor visible with both eyes to give depth perception.

Last night I heard a part of the Art Bell show with its
interviewing of a "rod" investigator. If I hadn't heard that
show, I would have just chalked this up as another UFO sighting
and not thought of 'rods', as I've had a few UFO sightings in the
past 12 years (described in my web site).  In any event, a
sighting that only lasts a second or two isn't anything to get
too steamed up about -- no time to go looking for another witness
or anything.
Easy to dismiss as an anomaly.

Does this fit the "rod" category?

Jim Deardorff
http://www.proaxis.com/~deardorj/index.htm