  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 $K\sim12.5$
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.
  Rest of the abstract follows at the paper
