Air-Rod "skyfish" [Cryptid | UFO]

"Skyfish" - [Cryptids/UFO 1990's] - About this Cryptid: (Also known as "Air Rods", or "solar entities") "low density, Lighter than air, Unknown Flying Organisms" airborne anomalies which are Invisible to the naked eye! often appearing In old surveillance footage taken on older cameras. Often Claimed to be fragile “extradimensional” creatures, alien life forms, or very small UFOs, said to be able to move above speeds over 300km/hr!!!

Here's a video of one in motion. (& the color inspiration for mine, no, it’s totally not just a bug.)

• Explaination: Similar as to how 'specks of dust' are often said to be 'Ghost Orbs' or 'Will o Wisps' by paranormal investigators. - These so called "sky fish" are often the result of the "optical phenomena" known as after image tracing/over exposure. – They are more likely to be a bird or an insect in motion caught on film rather than a "unique" or "mysterious" species of animal on their own. (Numerous tests have been done to prove this.) They where reported & sighted quite often in the 90s back when video cassette where the norm, but the fad died out as camera technology improved to the point where you can remove distortions like these much more easily - After image tracing is why when you wave your hand in front of your face It creates "smears", over exposure is also why we can make those funny pictures of Centipedal Cats:

Never the less, videos of rod-shaped objects moving quickly through the sky have been claimed to be small UFOs from space (particularly from gas giants such as Jupiter.) or they're bizzare creatures from an extra dimensions which perhaps, overlaps our own!!  They’ve been used as an explaination for “star jelly” as well…

• History: - "Rods as UFOs" became popular in 1995, One of the more outspoken proponents of "rods" as alien life forms was Jose Escamilla (1951~2018.) who claimed to have been the first to film them on March 19, 1994 in Roswell, New Mexico while attempting to film a UFO. - Escamilla later produced several documentaries on the subject & went on tours giving lectures about them. – [I'd recommend watching the ancient mysteries documentary about rods if you want to put on your tinfoil hat and learn about some of the more "far-out" there alien theories from 1995~2002.] but the concept of 'rods' as UFO seem to go back much further than Joses legacy: in 1961, Bruno Ghibaudi a scientific journalist from Italy, managed to snap a photo of a "strange multi winged air craft" one day by the sea. (Case 16, Project Blue Book.)

If given the time one could go on about UFO history & nitpick each case for hours, but I guess its not really my cup of tea unless there are fun 'creatures' involved (vs the stuff they might ride in which is cool, but, really just not as fun to draw!) - Fortunately, There is an entire sub-genre of Cryptozoology dedicated to these kinds of "Atmospheric beast" sightings: "Sky Whales, Sky Serpents and Atmospheric Jellyfish" are a few which also fall under this category of "Skyfish." - 'Sky Fishing' is where you pan over old footage and try to find these sorts of creatures. Noted Bigfoot author Ivan T. Sanderson even devoted an entire book to the theory that many UFOs are actually extremely low density animals native to the sky or the sea!

These concepts can extend to folklore as well, I've found that "Gremlins" are often classified along side them as type of "atmospheric beast." Off the coast of the Shetland Islands, tales about "Cloud Creatures" are also prevalent in the foggy archipelago, Yet another "cryptid" that to a degree fits the explanation of what a “rod” is is the 'crawfordsville monster" sighted in 1891 Crawfordsville, Indiana, this one seems to have caused a bit of a panic: (Somewhat disappointingly, it also turned out to simply be a flock of birds.) - [news clippings about the spook can be found on newspapers.com I'll explain and probably illustrate this one another time and do a proper dive into it.]

• In pop culture, Today, skyfish seem to have been neglected, or at least they dont get talked about much as orbs do these days, I suppose most people have “wisened up” as said earlier, its probably because cameras & technology have improved a LOT!! – however, rods as a cryptid seem to still be popular in Japan, as a staple part of UMA CULTURE. - The smaller ones especially, "スカイフィッシュ" (Literally "sky fishies") even get their own figurine's plushes and other merchandise skyfish were included in a 2022 UMA gacha machine among big names like tsuchinoko, big foot, Nessie, Grays & even Kesera-Pasaran!] ~ they also even appear as a "stand" in JJBA, a "monster girl" in kemono friends mobile game, and a foe in both Super-Sentai & even Castlevania!! - Hopefully, we'll see a resurgence of western skyfish soon.. [apparently they are also featured in "NOPE" 2022!]

This Art Sticker is by samkalensky (yo thats me!) Part of my cryptids & Ufo series of stickers! check my shop & if you enjoyed my ramblings, follow @samkalensky for many more~