I will admit that I was puzzled by "rods" for quite a while. However, experiments by many people have convinced me that they are nothing more than quite conventional bugs and other flying things whose shape has been distorted by the still or video camera. (See the article "Flying rods and insects".)
The phenomenon is created by a combination of the speed of the flying insect, the exposure of the photo, or the way video cameras capture fast-moving objects.
So, rods are not some kind of new species of insect, interdimensional entity, or spirit energy. They are bugs. And so, ironically, I am not bugged by them anymore.
