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‘What Is This Thing?’: 50 Times The Internet Solved The Mystery Of Unidentified Objects (All-Time Best)
We’ve never lived in a time such as this, where information is always at our fingertips. That’s why it’s called the Information Age. We can Google what the weather is outside and what song is currently playing, and we can even ask AI to make us a meal plan for the week. But there’s one niche that Google hasn’t conquered yet – identifying mysterious and weird objects.
That’s the job for the What Is This Thing? subreddit. We’ve covered the community many, many times here on Bored Panda throughout the years. And now has come the time for the best of the best, the cream of the crop – the very top “What Is This Thing?” posts of all time. So, we present to you the ultimate compilation of people identifying strange, unknown objects!
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#1
What Are These For In An Outdoor Area Of A Hospital?
Answer: These are emergency showers. An affected person (chemical spills, laboratory mishaps, etc) will pull the level on the top and tepid water (OSHA defined between 60F and 100F) will douse the affected from the shower head (above) and boot sprayer (below). The duration of these showers is required to be 15 full minutes at approximately 20 PSI. Source: I design these systems.
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#2
What Is The Point Of Such A Device?
Answer: USB charging condom. This way you can plug your phone into a random USB port and be sure that no data is exchanged. Only the power pins are passed through to the phone. Also called a sync stop.
#3
I Found This Blue Disc In A Packet Of Sour Cream Crisps. Its Has The Words "Ferrous 25mm Bst, Cert Number 213026b" On It. What Is This Thing?
Answer: It's a testing chip. It goes through the metal detectors to ensure they're working. There's a problem here though. You send X number of testers you get X number back. If you get X-1 or some other number you stop the line until you find your chip. The entire purpose of the test is to make sure that stuff like this--which is supposed to simulate a foreign object--does not get through. There's usually paperwork to document this. Write to the outfit and tell them what you found and rest assured there will be a s**tstorm on the other end.
Communities like the "What Is This Thing?" Subreddit really showcase how curious we can be as people. And, of course, knowledgeable – let's not forget that the mystery objects get identified by none other than by the Internet sleuths themselves. There are a lot of sister Subreddits that identify more specific categories of things as well.
There's r/WhatIsThisBug for weird bug identification and r/WhatIsThisPlant for finding out what kind of shrub or flower you're looking at. Then there's r/WhatIsThisBird, which, as a person who has trouble differentiating same-sized birds, I'm a big fan of. Even r/WhatIsThisRock, r/WhatIsThisPainting, and r/WhereIsThis, for identifying places, exist! So when all acquaintances and Google fail, it's nice to have a Subreddit to fall back on.
#4
What Are These Blue Reflecting Markers For? Mounted On A Pole, Facing The Field
Answer: They are reflecting the headlights of cars to the fields, so that deer avoids crossing the road. So it's for safety of cars and animals.
#5
Found This On The Side Of The Road In My Neighborhood. Thought It Was A Brain, Then Dissected It And Now I Have No Idea. Lots Of Small Lobes, Fuzzy Inside, Rubbery?
Answer: You my friend, have just dissected dog p**p. Someone’s dog has eaten paper towels in abundance. They can’t digest it and it comes out like this
#6
Posts With Nets On Top On Side Of Street In The Netherlands
Answer: these are to help bats orientate themselves, until the trees are larger. Did they recently cut down trees along this road? Bats need to hear reflection of their sound to know where they are going. These things will replace the leaves in that.
But communities like these are a part of the broader net of platforms that help to satisfy our curiosity. Humans are inherently curious beings. One might even say that Adam and Eve got us into this whole shebang because of their curiosity. Yet the invention of the Internet drastically changed the way we are curious and how we can satisfy our curious minds.
"The internet, in essence, has evolved into a boundless curiosity machine, a space where questions are indulged and answers are incessantly pursued," Neuroscientist Dr. Suzi Travers writes. The "What Is This Thing?" community is a great example of people from all corners of the world coming together to answer one simple question: "Can we identify this thing?"
#7
Object Found While Hiking Off-Road In Bosnia. Notice The Spikes Near The End! Wondering What It Is
Answer: DON'T GO HIKING IN BOSNIA IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHERE ARE YOU GOING. it is full of unmarked mine fields.
#8
My Security Camera Caught This Individual With A Large Device, Possibly Scanning For Something? The Individual Noticed The Camera And Changed Their Mind It Seems, But What Have They Got And What Are They Doing?
Answer: this person is probably a car thief scanning for keyless car keys. . never leave them near windows and doors.
#9
Thin Slabs Of Ivory With Days Of The Week On The Top Found In My Closet. What Is This Thing?
Answer: Fabulous antique early Victorian chatelaine aide memoir from mid 1800s. Made of sheets of bone, it would have hung on a lady's chatalaine chain or been kept securely in her pocket and she would have used it to make note and appointments for the week to come. It has 6 pages for the days Monday to Saturday, of course a lady would never have made appointments on a Sunday
But professionals also warn that the Internet might stifle our curiosity. Vice President of Developer Community at Microsoft Scott Hanselman writes that people might be unwilling to learn about technology itself. It's ironic, isn't it? Like the Internet serpent eating its own tail: we have a supercomputer in our pockets at virtually all times and can find out almost anything, but do we want to find out how the device and the Internet themselves work?
#10
My Girlfriend's House Has This Panel Next To The Basement Door That Lights Up Whenever The Basement Light Is On. Why?
Answer: It’s to tell you that the basement light is on.
#11
Found This Glass Like Tube “Shell” Washed Up On A Beach In North Carolina, Any Idea What It Is?
Answer: Stingray teeth.
#12
I Saw This In My Yard. Is This Just A Type Of Worm? Or Is There A Parasite On It? (I Saw It Breathing/Have Some Sort Of Heartbeat, So It’s Alive)
Answer: that's two worms making more worms.
"I took apart my toaster, my remote control, and a clock-radio telephone before I was 10," Hanselman writes in his blog. "Didn't you? What's the difference between the people [who] take toasters apart and the folks that just want toast? At what point do kids or young adults stop asking 'How does it work?'"
"As each new layer of abstraction becomes indistinguishable from magic we may be quietly killing curiosity. Or shifting its focus. Is the stack so deep now that we can't know everything?" Hanselman asks.
#13
This Was Found By A Cleaner Hidden Under My Dresser In My Bedroom (She Told Me Very Discreetly About This Which Has Me Concerned), I’ve Tried To Google It To No Avail. What Is This Thing?
Answer: voice recorder, doesn't transmit using wireless though so whoever placed this thing, will be back. If this was in your home, chances are there are cameras as well.
#14
Old Ruler. I Don’t Know How It Is Used Or What Does It Measure
Answer: Slide rule, logarithmic calculating device. These put humans on the moon.
#15
Iron Cone On Either Side Of A Gate Outside The Entry To A Building In Bath England
Answer: It's a snuffer. A visitor to your house would use it to put out their torch.
Hanselman divides people into two clear binaries: the curious and the not-curious. He claims that people might start viewing new technological advancements as magic. And as that magic becomes harder and harder to understand, curiosity might disappear from the picture.
"As each new layer of abstraction becomes indistinguishable from magic we may be quietly killing curiosity," he writes. "Or shifting its focus. Is the stack so deep now that we can't know everything?"
#17
What Is This Thing In My Classroom? Makes Subtle Fan-Like Sounds And Changes Colour On Top
Answer: AV1 is a personal avatar for children suffering from long-term illness, helping them to continue their education and maintain the normality of daily life despite no longer being able to access mainstream education. Through an app, the user can remotely log into the class from their home or hospital. Looking through the robots eyes, the child can watch the lesson, through the robot’s ears they can hear greetings from their friends and they can speak through the robot to interact with the rest of the class.
#18
What Is This Ring My Uber Driver Would Randomly Click?
Answer: Hes praying, thats a counter. The prayer involves repeating a phrase a certain number of times. Traditionally you kept track on your fingers or with a string of beads. This device does the same job.
Dr. Travers also touches upon this in her essay. She worries that we might not want to reflect, be in deep thought, or engage in an organic evolution of ideas anymore. The never-before-been-easier process of getting answers to almost any question we can find kind of makes our brain lazy, doesn't it?
#19
Came Across This While Hiking Behind An Old Mine In Southwestern Pennsylvania. Several Miles Off Of The Old Access Road. Appears 40 Feet Long, Nothing Written On It, Appears Nothing Is Inside Of It. 25 Feet Or So Off Of The Ground. No Sign Of Life Around It For Miles
Answer: That, my friend, is the daddy of all deer stands.
#20
This Weird Wrapped Car. The Lights Were Wrapped In Cloth. Serial Numbers All Around. Anything Significant Or Just Tacky?
Answer: It obscures the car while being test driven, so the yet-to-be-released models are not photographed and published. The random "wave" patterns effectively hide the body contours and lines.
#21
Found On Counter In Medical Exam Room: String Of Plastic Numbered Oval Beads. My Own Doc Had No Idea. Pen For Scale
Answer: orchidometer. Used for sizing testicles.
"When answers are instantaneously available at our fingertips, it can bypass this process, depriving us of the valuable moments of pondering, hypothesizing, and testing our theories," Travers writes.
"By offering instant gratification, the Internet may inadvertently deter individuals from cultivating deeper, sustained interests and passions. The quick-fix nature of online information can, paradoxically, impede the very curiosity it seeks to satisfy."
#22
This Sticker On The Inside Cover Of A Second-Hand Bible. Pretty Sure It Depicts A Partridge And A Fig Tree, Both Of Which Have Biblical Connections But No Idea What It Means
Answer: No Bush/Quail. 1992 election sticker.
#23
My Mom And Dad Were Doing Some Landscaping In The Backyard And Found This Weird Slate With Writing Etched Into It. The Months Are Spelled Out And The Year States 1827. This Was Located In Southern Missouri
Answer: a practice gravestone scrap. Someone who carved gravestones would practice engraving lettering and drawings on this broken piece of stone.
#24
IKEA Coffee Mug, What Is The Thing At The Bottom?
Answer: So water doesn't stay on the bottom if you put the mug in the dishwasher and stops wet mugs suctioning themselves to coasters. Pretty clever design actually.
The neuroscientist also worries that the Internet encourages superficial curiosity only. She gives examples of how people read articles nowadays – most just look at the headline or skim the whole thing through in a minute. By using eye-tracking studies, marketing researchers found in 2020 that nothing much has changed since 1997 – people still skim rather than read articles.
#25
This Structure I Found While Walking In The Woods, The Metal Bit Is About 2 Feet Wide And Looks Like It Could Uncomfortably Fit A Person In It. My Guesses Are A Well, Sewer Or Time Capsule. For Context I Live In Eastern Massachusetts. We Plan On Going Back To Open It
Answer: Definitely a man hole. Do not open it. DEFINITELY DO NOT GO IN IT! Manholes are notoriously deadly because they contain low oxygen percentages and high concentrations of poisonous gases such as hydrogen sulfide and methane. First responders usually find two dead people in manholes - the first one that went in and succumbed and their friend who watched them pass out and rushes in to help.
#26
What Is This Big Hole That Is Usually Found On Milk Cartons?
Answer: It’s a pressure relief hole. If you dropped it, instead of exploding, the hole would pop out.
#27
Ok, I Know It’s A Chair, But What’s With The Extended Arms?
Answer: It looks like a plantation/planters chair. You’d put your sore swollen legs up on the arms after sitting on a horse all day, like a pregnant woman with her legs up in the same fashion. This is why the back is so sloped as well. If you sit up straight it wouldn’t be comfortable to put your legs up like that, but in a reclined position it’s good for blood flow and air flow.
Dr. Travers, therefore, warns that our curiosity online might be only surface-deep. According to her, it can hinder knowledge retention. That means that we might see, hear, and watch a lot of interesting or useful information, but it most likely goes into one ear and out the other. "In the long run, such transient engagements could compromise the depth and breadth of our understanding in various fields," Dr. Travers explains.
#28
Found This In House I’m Tearing Apart In A Book Like Someone Wanted To Keep Them Don’t Think It’s Real Money
Answer: Its money from the Philippines when it was occupied by Japan in 1941.
#29
I Found This Metal Object. No Text Or Numbers. Can Retract To Be The Size Of A Bracelet. What Is This Thing?
Answer: It's the top (closure part) of a purse or small handbag.
#30
Help Identify What These Are And What They Were Used For? Passed Down By Family - UK
Answer: An apprentice final piece before becoming a journey man engraver.
But not everyone is this pessimistic. Astrophysicist and author Mario Livio thinks the Internet is great for answering simple, very specific questions. And he doesn't worry that it will snuff out people's curiosity.
"The digital age helps us because we can find that [simple] information, and that may drive us to look for something else about this. And that would drive perhaps epistemic curiosity, which is this love of knowledge and wanting to learn new things."
#31
This Belonged To My Great Grandfather. What Is This Thing?
Answer: If it's legit, that's a really old Gibson, from between 1903 and 1933. It's going to be worth more than you think, so be really careful with it. Seriously.
#32
What Is The Hollow Part Of This For? Never Seen Anything Like It Before. Cat For Size Reference
Answer: phone table with storage space for the phone book.
#33
Grandmother Received This From Her Friend After His Death. Nobody At The Senior's Center She Lives At Knows What It Is. What Is This Thing?
Answer: Opium pipe.
#34
Found This White Fuzzy Thing In My Basement, Mother Freaked Out. What Is This Thing?
Answer: Spiders infected with fungus look like this.
#35
Glass Items Seen At Yard Sale. They Aren't Doorknobs And Some Look Like One Solid Piece?
Answer: Knife rests.
#36
Sunset Pic I Took From JFK Airport. Could These Shadows Be The Manhattan Skyline?
Answer: I live near Mt. Rainier and this happens too, only at dawn. The mountain casts its shadow on the underside of the clouds. This is just as impressive as that.
#37
Found A Rock On The Porch Of My New Home, Flipped It Over And Saw This. Is That A Fossil?
Answer: Yup, that's a fossil. Tree trunk impression.
#38
What Is This Ice Phenomenon I Found On The Forest Floor Today?
Answer: The term for it is frost flower and has to do with moisture freezing as it escapes plant tissue.
#39
This... Thing... Showed Up Inside The Humid Jar Of My Carnivorous Plants. What Is This Thing?
#40
I Found This Ring In My Backyard While Doing Gardening. After Cleaning It, It Doesn't Look Like A Normal Ring. Any Ideas ?
Answer: It's a Georgian/early Victorian mourning ring. The initials belong to the lost loved one. They were typically made from gold (18k+) and enameled in black. Yours looks like it was made around 1820s-40s.
#41
This Is About The Size Of My Hand, Made Of/With Some Kind Of Metal (I Think Copper)
Answer: This is mostly likely thousands of years old - a Pre-Columbian artifact. You should take it to a university or museum for analysis. DO NOT polish it or clean it.
#42
Found This Small Kettle Years Ago. Tried Searching For A Similar One But Have Always Come Up With Nothing. Anybody Have An Idea Why This Has This Unique Shape?
Answer: a portable men’s urinal for bedbound patients. It is used to pee when you cannot get out of bed.
#43
4in By 4in Scissors. Uncomfortable To Hold, In Either Hand, Two Or Four Fingers. What Is This Thing?
Answer: they're childrens' training scissors. Like for pre-schoolers. The extra holes are so a grown-up can co-scissor and help the kid.
#44
Small Round “Shelf” In Old Mail Box. What Is This Thing?
Answer: for leaving change for postal worker to add postage. USPS delivery people are required to have stamps and you don't even need to catch them to buy some. If you have a piece of mail without postage you can put it in your mailbox with cash and the carrier will bring back change (if needed) the next day.
#45
Found On The Dashboard Of An Old Gmc. A Lucite Like Material, With Ridges
Answer: It's a traffic light viewer. Traffic lights back in the day were mounted on the same side you stopped on which sometimes made it difficult to see the light if you were first in line, this helped reflect the light from above so you could tell when the light changed.
#46
Weird Squirming Living Lovecraftian Nightmare On Our Lawn Chair This Morning. What Is This Thing?
Answer: Hag moth caterpillar with fuzzy “false arms” on its back to make it look like a dead leaf. (We’re looking at the belly)
#47
Found On A Hike In The Highlands In Scotland. Looks And Feels Handmade, Wooden Handle And Mesh Made Of Wire
Answer: Fire beaters. Used to extinguish small fires.
#48
Art Nouveau Style Hook Made Of Silver
Answer: a boot button hook. Used to hook all those tiny buttons on ladies boots
#49
A Silver Utensil. When You Press The Button On One End The Grips Open. What Is This Thing?
Answer: Sugarcube holder. For tea parties with scones. Or coffee and cake.
#50
Small Elephant Filled With Water Left At Flat After Party. Debating With Flatmates Over What It’s Purpose Could Be
Answer: It's a melted reusable ice cube.
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