The recent implementation of the high-speed burst mode at the ISAAC instrument on UT1 , and its propagation to other ESO instruments , has opened the door to observational capabilities which hold the potential for a wealth of novel results .
In the ELT era , when the accent will likely be on lengthy programs aimed at the best sensitivity and angular resolution , the VLT telescopes could continue to play a significant and largely unique role by performing routinely observations of transient events at high temporal resolution .
In our contribution , we provide details on two such kinds of observations , namely lunar occultations of stars and of asteroids .
For the first ones , we report on two passages of the Moon in regions with high stellar density as the Galactic Center .
The VLT-UT1 telescope was used for the first time to record successfully 53 and 71 occultations on March 22 and August 6 , 2006 , with an angular resolution of 0.5-1 milliarcsecond and K \sim 12.5 limiting magnitude .
We note that the angular resolution is superior to that achieved at present by Adaptive Optics on any telescope , and also superior to that foreseen for the ELT at the same wavelength .
LO are also very efficient in terms of telescope time .
We present some of the results , including the discovery of close binaries , and the detection and study of compact circumstellar components of cool giants , AGB stars and embedded IR sources .

Concerning asteroidal occultations , we aim at observations starting in P80 which would permit high-accuracy , direct determinations of asteroid sizes for bodies larger than \approx 50 km .
This is a critical information to improve our understanding of the physical properties of these bodies .
It will allow us an independent , crucial calibration of the indirect techniques commonly used to derive estimates of asteroid sizes and albedo , namely radiometry ( Harris & Lagerros ( ( 4 ) ) ) and polarimetry ( Cellino et al ( ( 1 ) ) , and references therein ) .
Lunar occultations can be used also to detect asteroid binary systems , which have been found recently to be not very rare .
Binary systems are invaluable to estimate asteroid masses and densities , parameters that are at present very poorly known .