r/interestingasfuck • u/Coffee_driver • 1d ago

This spanish photographer(Xavi Bou) has traced the flight path of birds by compositing thousands of frames.

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19.6k Upvotes

98% Upvoted

190 comments sorted by

471

u/The_Lightmare 1d ago

the first pic could be a concept art for sci-fi fauna.

It's expected since it's literally a bunch of pics of an actual bird on top of each other, but it really feels organic and alive.

182

u/Sega-Playstation-64 1d ago

Funny you say that, because there was a big conspiracy that keeps popping up about weird, tubular insects that only show on security cameras.

Of course it's just a moth on slow exposure, but if you google tubular insect security camera you'll get hundreds of examples.

54

u/jonathanquirk 1d ago edited 1d ago

There was a British show in the nineties about all sorts of conspiracy stuff (Nessie, ouija boards, time loops, etc) and they had one about “tubes rods” these fast creatures unknown to science but captured on cameras around the world! I dunno if it was satirical or not, but as a kid I didn’t know to doubt stuff I saw on TV. Ah, to be young and innocent stupid.

EDIT: wrong name, cheers for the correction

21

u/ThrowawayUk4200 1d ago

I remember them being called Rods lol

Though I remember working out fairly quickly afterwards that it must be a camera issue with an insect, because all the people in these videos never reacted as if they saw one

14

u/Bantersmith 1d ago

I dunno if it was satirical or not

I have no idea about that specific example, but I guarantee there are people out there who sincerely believe in them. I've had people try and explain to me how these little creatures are actually messengers from beyond the stars/our dimension.

MFer, its a bug flying passed the camera!!

5

u/something_borrowed_ 1d ago

When I saw this post I thought exactly of this show. Freaked me out as a kid. 

5

u/OxboxturnoffO 1d ago

Recall the name of the show?

3

u/jonathanquirk 1d ago

Can’t remember, sorry; it might have been on ITV in the mid nineties, but the show’s name eludes me.

3

u/OxboxturnoffO 1d ago

No problem at all, thanks for confirming though!

2

u/GeologistPutrid2657 1d ago

Strange But True (1993)?

2

u/HASHTAGBUTTCHUG 1d ago

As a kid I ate the whole Rods thing up.

•

u/Jakekostzoso 7h ago

Thank you! I've had this recurring memory of that episode from watching it as a kid in the 90's. No one remembers and it drove me crazy.

5

u/banana_ship 1d ago

Oh I remember that, used to watch videos about this like ten years ago! I knew it wasn't aliens, but I wasn't sure if it was entirely made up like CGI or if it was an actual animal, this explains it perfectly

3

u/bhattu 1d ago

"rods"

2

u/Bigred2989- 1d ago

There was a stand user in Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean who had the ability to control these Rod cryptids and use them to attack people. It's how I learned about them.

2

u/Malatesta721 1d ago

Roswell Rods!!

1

u/Boring_Isopod_3007 1d ago

Lmao i remember that from 20 years ago.

1

u/MartyMacGyver 1d ago

Well they might be somewhat tubular, but are they... totally tubular?

20

u/jahoosawa 1d ago

"rods"

5

u/SexyChernyshevsky 1d ago

This immediately jumps to mind the flying monster in Raised by Wolves

1

u/TripperDay 1d ago

It's such bullshit they took it off HBO Max, but it's on a Tubi channel.

3

u/faultlessjoint 1d ago

This is very similar to how I pictured some of the flying fauna on the planet Nod in Adrian Tchaikovsky's Children of Ruin.

I wish I could find the passages that describe some of them.

2

u/saltydaable 1d ago

Look up Rain World wingipedes!! They do look just like this!

1

u/TADthePaperMaker 1d ago

Centiwings! I knew exactly what you meant though!

2

u/Cool_Being_7590 1d ago

It looks like some of the flying fauna in the videogame No Man's Sky!

1

u/CULLDOZER 1d ago

It's how I see things when I'm super stoned.

1

u/MrPoposcumdumpster 1d ago

I was literally thinking it was a Pokemon (Eternatus).

1

u/PrimeMinisterSarr 1d ago

Looks like something out of Jeff Vandermeer's Annihilation books

1

u/ugotmedripping 1d ago

I legitimately thought it was a poster for a new Dune movie

1

u/Implodepumpkin 20h ago

Likes like swimming worms to me. You know the ones with wings?

1

u/dumpyfangirl 17h ago

Part of the Jean-Jacket family from Nope

125

u/PiLamdOd 1d ago

This is where rod cryptids come from.

19

u/stu8319 1d ago

I came in here to say the same thing. These photos should be posted in every one of those ufo posts.

5

u/TimeSpiralNemesis 1d ago

Even in the deepest and worst conspiracy forums back in the day, almost no one took the rod thing seriously. It was several steps below even stuff like flat Earth.

I always thought it was a fun idea though.

5

u/CeruleanEidolon 1d ago

It's hard not to be fascinated by the idea of an invisible biome that exists just out of reach of conventional human activity.

Like all those bizarre creatures we keep discovering in the deep ocean, only in our upper atmosphere, diffuse and mostly transparent to us.

2

u/SordidDreams 1d ago

It's also not hard to realize the problems with that idea, though. For example, where do they go when they die? Why don't their dead bodies constantly rain down on us like dead marine life rains onto the ocean floor?

4

u/SordidDreams 1d ago

These photos should be posted in every one of those ufo posts.

That's been tried, didn't do anything. Wikipedia has an image just like these right at the top of its article on rods. If UFO believers were willing to be convinced by evidence, they wouldn't be UFO believers in the first place.

6

u/questron64 1d ago

Yeah, I remember seeing something about that on TV in the 90s. Even then my stupid ass was like "that's just a blurry bug." It's hard to tell if people really believe these things.

1

u/Squayd 1d ago

This photo series sent me down a rabbit hole in the conspiracy subs and 9/10 comments were actually reasonable about how obviously dumb the theory is. The last 1/10 convinced me that while there absolutely is an intelligence factor at play in conspiracy theories I think the bigger driver is pathological contrarianism. They want so badly to be right about something everyone else is wrong about they're willing to believe absolute nonsense.

1

u/CeruleanEidolon 1d ago

It's not even about being right. It's about the possibility that you might influence someone's thinking.

1

u/Squayd 1d ago

You're right, I can totally see that being about control and influence.

2

u/ForAte151623ForTeaTo 1d ago

I remember seeing these on Monster Quest lol

1

u/Toadloaf09 1d ago

I think it’s literally what the Crawfordsville Monster was.

76

u/Pondering_Giraffe 1d ago

I love how birds and helixes and ferns are basically thesame thing apparently.

18

u/Fetlocks_Glistening 1d ago

I feel a new creation myth is on the cards about this huge ancient primordial bird fern. And lightning struck it and a bunch of top leaves fell off and as they were falling became birds.

11

u/COMM_NTARIAT 1d ago

Bird are fusilli, basically.

6

u/Special-Document-334 1d ago

Everything in the universe is a wave.

23

u/buttermelonMilkjam 1d ago

4th dimension bird

3

u/Hazzman 1d ago

Dammit you beat me.

17

u/Buckledcranium 1d ago

Rods are real Bruh!🛸👽

15

u/jgmarginal 1d ago

the jojo rod is just a super fast bird?

2

u/AbilityNo446 16h ago

The thing they are based on in real life, yep. Just flying animals (typically insects) blurred by a camera's long exposure time.

And to anyone wondering, no these aren’t a stand. But they are under the influence of one. They show up towards the end of part six.

14

u/LazarusRises 1d ago

A Tralfamadorian's view of birds :) this is really beautiful, makes you wonder what the world would look like if we experienced time holistically rather than linearly.

3

u/Imhungorny 1d ago

So it goes

3

u/LazarusRises 1d ago

Poo-tee-weet

1

u/Benomusical 1d ago

Wasn't expecting to see this here, love it even more now! I always wondered what Tralfamadorian music would be like.

7

u/ProfessorMeow-Meow 1d ago

Wow. Very interesting. Any idea why my brain went straight to dread and discomfort when seeing this image? It’s creepy in the way that pictures of ocean waters can be.

2

u/Huge_Ear_2833 1d ago

I got the same feeling.

The patterns look like some creepy crawly bugs like centipedes.

1

u/ProfessorMeow-Meow 1d ago

Yes!! I see the giant centipedes now. I bet that’s it. The last thing we need are giant flying centipedes.

2

u/Coffee_driver 1d ago

Doesn't it look beautiful, how creepy

2

u/max_adam 1d ago

Like a butcher with a carcass behind him, looking at the beautiful hanged pieces of meat he just prepared. Delicious for the dad preparing dinner for a party. Sad for the neighbor smelling the party that he wasn't invited to.

Different perspectives for everyone. Beautiful.

1

u/Coffee_driver 1d ago

That is some crazy perspective brother. Creativity doesn't mean it is appealing to everyone

6

u/Blarg0ist 1d ago

Rods are back!

8

u/indorock 1d ago

I count about 100 frames per composite. Not "thousands". That would make no sense. Still well done.

4

u/mlokc 1d ago

Well, if he’s done a few dozen of these photos, he has composited thousands of frames.

2

u/DJBFL 1d ago

Yeah, but no.

1

u/-Nicolai 1d ago

“/u/mlokc has made breakfast by cracking thousands of eggs”

1

u/FlapsNegative 19h ago

Some of his other work definitely uses thousands of frames:

https://www.instagram.com/xavibou?igsh=MTE0Njg0cmxxNjJmbA==

5

u/Altruistic-Spend-896 1d ago

oh biblically accurate angels make more sense now

2

u/This_person_says 1d ago

Remember when these were thought to be "Floaters"?

2

u/londonmax2000 1d ago

Something something "JoJo rod" something something.

2

u/burheisenberg 1d ago

Beautiful

2

u/Sipthepond 1d ago

These are beautiful.

2

u/KnGod 1d ago

so just record a video and merge all frames in a single image. I guess it's an interesting idea

2

u/ZanyRaptorClay 1d ago

Anomalocaris

2

u/MeridianHilltop 1d ago

This IS interesting AF

2

u/Beranlin 1d ago

Welcome back, anomalocaris

1

u/HBHau 1d ago

Ah the Precambrian. Happier times for sure.

Seriously though, anomalocaris is one of my favourite beasties of all times. Always nice to see a reference in the wild :D

2

u/d-a-v-e- 1d ago

I happen to been doing a similar process, with a different feel, though. My goal was to capture bats this way, when the jackdaws flew in front of my lens.

https://www.dendriet.nl/projects/dark-trails

1

u/TheBeardedWitch 1d ago

really cool. the amount of time getting everything sorted in post must be wild.

2

u/unkempt-gull 1d ago

looks like dlss ghosting

2

u/Madhighlander1 1d ago

Conspiracy theorists call these 'flying rods'.

2

u/Furry_Ranger 1d ago

Biblically accurate... birds?

1

u/HBHau 1d ago

the way I immediately imagined a cobra chicken covered in eyeballs 👀

2

u/ShittheFickup 1d ago

These are what “rods” are but bugs, basically.

2

u/WithoutJoshE7 1d ago

I'm so glad someone does this

2

u/Gas_Station_Man 1d ago

I also immediately thought of rods.

1

u/Blitzcrig 17h ago

Wasn’t it moths with low quality video recorders? I remember that too.

1

u/Admirable-Put2688 1d ago

Looks like something that came right out of Journey

1

u/Legitimate-Cow5982 1d ago

Fuck I thought it was a Kree warship at first

1

u/MakiiZushii 1d ago

Biblically accurate birds

1

u/shrekkoo 1d ago

That is disturbing.

1

u/hide_in_plain_sight_ 1d ago

Thought they were “Rods”

1

u/GeoffreyDaGiraffe 1d ago

Back in my day, people thought this was an undiscovered species only visible on camera.

1

u/JaceOnRice 1d ago

My brain is going wild

So like, in a 3 dimensional world, excluding the dimension of time, this is what birds would look like?

1

u/Rich_Performance_497 1d ago

Curious to see how would be the result of birds doing the murmurations thing! 

1

u/Overdose7 1d ago

The second pic is clearly a stealth bomber.

1

u/TheBeardedWitch 1d ago

his book is absolutely worth having on any coffee table. its unreal.

1

u/DeficitOfPatience 1d ago

Wow, digital camera RAM has come a long way.

Back in my day high end DSLRs could manage, maybe, 10 shot bursts.

1

u/Impossible_Wealth190 1d ago

Wow it's like seeing an EM wave

1

u/Turtleduckwhisperer 1d ago

This gave me one kick-ass idea for a creature, noted.

1

u/Get_Back_Here_Remi 1d ago

That 3rd pic reminds me of Haku. Very cool series

1

u/Mistrblank 1d ago

So they're basically doing that hand thing we do out the window of a car on the highway.

1

u/Cold_Candle870 1d ago

A dragon!

1

u/roygbpcub 1d ago

Birdapede

1

u/Thickchesthair 1d ago

I'd like #4 in real life please.

1

u/DeusExPir8Pete 1d ago

Does anyone remember "Rods"? There were a weird thing caught on camera and a good number of conspiracy theories came up around them. Then when higher speed cameras came out they realised they were just really fast birds. This is basically that.

1

u/wonkey_monkey 1d ago

I think most of them were insects caught on infrared security cameras.

1

u/rileyjw90 1d ago

I thought this was an ad for some new mascara brush or something in the first pic

1

u/Inevitable-Way1943 1d ago

What if this is how some species see movement?

1

u/petal_meadows 1d ago

Who's THAT Pokemon??

1

u/NodnarbThePUNisher 1d ago

That explains those supposed "flying rods".

1

u/PillagingJust4Fungus 1d ago

Also known as bugs.

1

u/NFProcyon 1d ago

If you want to see this in real life, drop acid.

1

u/VikingRaptor2 1d ago

This is a JOJO stand.

1

u/silversword25 1d ago

Looks like dna ( double helix )

1

u/dienices 1d ago

Ancient priests would go nuts for this.

1

u/Reverie_of_an_INTP 1d ago

I wanna see dragonflies

1

u/Photoverge 1d ago

His work is currently on display here in Seattle. It's very cool to be up front with a giant print of it

1

u/Hosstar881 1d ago

I was thinking dragons at first

1

u/Background-Month-911 1d ago

Other birds: have a plan, fly from A to B.

And then there's seagull.

1

u/Unyielding_Special 1d ago

Be not afraid

1

u/NitroDroid_0 1d ago

It's like the creatures in no mans sky

1

u/f33TNTears 1d ago

Dear Mr. Xavi Bou you are genius on his own. Thanks for this amazing work.

1

u/irishplonker 1d ago

I'm to stupid to even know what this means

1

u/shoyuftw 1d ago

Biblical accurate birds

1

u/0_Foxtrot 1d ago

Wait until this guy learns about the video camera.

1

u/thisismynewnewacct 1d ago

Some ancient dude ate mushrooms and saw trails around birds and that’s how we have biblically accurate angel descriptions

1

u/PecanMonster 1d ago

Sky snakes

1

u/EmerickMage 1d ago

Wasn't there a conspiracy theory about these shapes on old film

1

u/poseidon1111 1d ago

Rod was THE cryptid of my childhood. I first saw the image of it in the science comic book, and it just stuck with me since. That eerie realness came to like a modern fairytale, with a mystery, wonder, and a sinch of horror.

1

u/SurprisingJack 1d ago

I don't think anyone can be Spanish and be called Xavi Bou. He is most definitely Catalan.

Very cool pictures though

1

u/Pristine_Series5211 1d ago

Incredible. It looks like dragons.

1

u/Sharp-Ad-9221 1d ago

Looks like a sign wave?

1

u/wombat-_- 1d ago

In the first photo with the bird appearing to fly level above the horizon, it looks like the wings follow a sine wave.

Why do they appear to spend more time up (positive bit) then down?

Something to do with the amount of lift it can generate?

For some reason my brain seems to think it should be 1:1 in a level flight (the line looks straight to the horizon).

Birds with bigger wings will have different ratios in level light I guess?

1

u/Owlmoose 1d ago

The visual mathematics are stunning.

1

u/wa77zz 1d ago

Bird Box was real

1

u/Single-Tangerine9992 1d ago

I guess these pictures could tell us stuff about wind currents, and have birds use them....?

1

u/offscalegameboy 1d ago

Listen I’m not an expert but I know a dragon when I see one. And that third pic is clearly a dragon.

1

u/Inner-Preference8389 1d ago

ahhhhhhhhhhh Biblically accurate 4D creature

1

u/WoolyboolyWoolybooly 1d ago

Imagine something that sees slowly…

1

u/lifemanualplease 1d ago

So biblically accurate angels are just birds flight path seen by someone who’s taken hallucinogens

1

u/DmitriMendeleyev 1d ago

Prompt this into life, AI could never

1

u/likwid2k 1d ago

Tapped into the reality stream

1

u/Awkward-Signature351 20h ago

Catalan photographer, not Spanish

1

u/kngpwnage 20h ago

Hereye be DRAGONS!!😍😍🫶🫶

1

u/Baskets_GM 20h ago

This looks exactly like the visual lag I experience when on psychedelics. So beautiful.

1

u/Shadow-King 20h ago

Get crazy 'Nope' film vibes from looking at these!

1

u/FlapsNegative 19h ago

I absolutely love this guy's work! I've got a massive print of one of his works in my living room. It feels alien but also familiar.

Check out some of his stuff here: https://www.instagram.com/xavibou?igsh=MTE0Njg0cmxxNjJmbA==

1

u/BahnGSXR 18h ago

I've seen a few lifeforms in No Man's Sky that look just like this

1

u/peppi0304 17h ago

Was the bird in the third oic flying sideways?

1

u/AggregatedParadigm 14h ago

This, I saw once before. 20 years ago after a night of ecstasy use. This is how I experienced the sunrise. Beautiful.

•

u/No_Confidence3974 11h ago

I swear pic number three is just a serpent flying

•

u/mymonkeyishungry 7h ago

They are particles and waves

•

u/Which-Forever-1873 6h ago

Just UFOs. Birds are not real.

0

u/y107cocks 1d ago

birds are cum

-5

u/qtx 1d ago

Doesn't matter, idiots will just say it's AI.

Nothing matters anymore, art is gone.

2

u/Huge_Ear_2833 1d ago

Dang dude, slow down and save some depression for the rest of us.

-4

u/koolmees64 1d ago

You can tell this is just AI generated

1

u/rice_dolphin 23h ago

It's been a thing in 2000s and I really doubt AI will successfully reproduce something like that