“What Is This Thing?”: 50 Times People Stumbled Upon Mysterious Objects (New Pics)
Interview With Expert
Is it a bird? Is it a plane?! Unfortunately, it most likely won’t be Superman. And, chances are, it’s not the Twister either. But it is something peculiar. It’s an unknown object (not from space, though!) that needs some help from the Internet to identify it.
Luckily, there is a subreddit for that. The What Is This Thing community is fortunately still going strong with more than 2.7 million members! It’s a place where you can post a picture of an item that you can’t for the life of you figure out what it is or where it came from. The Internet will most likely come to your aid, and the subreddit’s detectives will tell you what your strange object is.
This time, we’ve compiled a new selection of the best entries from the community for you to enjoy. So scroll away and let us know your favorites by upvoting them!
Bored Panda reached out to Celia Quillian, an AI expert who previously lent her expertise to TIME magazine and the Today Show. We wanted to know whether the current AI technology could make the subreddit's job easier. She told us more about how AI models recognize objects in pictures, what challenges we might run into, and what the future of AI image recognition technology is. Read our interview with her below!
More info: What Is This Thing? | Celia Quillian on Instagram | Celia Quillian on TikTok
This post may include affiliate links.
What Is This Object I Found On A Beach In Yorkshire That Has Holes In And Feels Like A Mix Between Stone And Plastic
A Victorian toothbrush. The handle is made of animal bone and the holes are where the bristles (normally pig or horse hair) would go. Bristle toothbrushes like this were invented in China in the 1400s, but contrary to all that seems good and sane in this world, most Europeans weren't all that into toothbrushes until the late 1700s/early 1800s. Source: am archaeologist.
The r/WhatIsThisThing subreddit is a pretty old community. It has been alive for about 15 years now. Bored Panda spoke to one of the community's moderators back in 2020, and they told us what the reasons behind the subreddit's success might be. It's that people like playing amateur detectives and helping others find out what their mystery object is.
Redditors love to share their knowledge, and it's especially rewarding when knowing something niche helps someone else. "Many [people] have unique and obscure knowledge and they like to use it. Get enough of them together and they cover most things," the moderator told us a few years back. It's hard not to get involved when some interesting items show up – that's another reason for the subreddit's popularity.
A Silver Spoon With "Top" Part?
Vintage Christofle Orfevre a Paris Silver Plated Medicine/Invalid Feeder Spoon.
Patches Of Sand Floating On Top Of Water Near Shoreline, Each Patch Around 4-10cm In Diameter
It's dry sand floating on the water tension, been picked up by the raising tide. Only happens when it's hot enough to dry the sand and absolutely flat calm.
Back then, the moderator also told Bored Panda that almost all mystery cases get solved. "A majority of things are solved within 15 minutes of posting," the mod said. The Redditor assessed that about 10% of the posters never get final answers. With a community of 2.7 million people, it's no wonder how quick it can be – its strength is in its numbers.
On a more serious note, there's also an affiliated subreddit called Trace an Object. Internet sleuths can put their skills to good use by searching for items posted by Europol and Australia's "Trace an Object" websites or the FBI's "Endangered Child Alert Program." "We've had some luck in identifying some things, but there's more yet unsolved and more to come as Europol does release some new information every few months," the community's moderator told us in 2020.
This Is About 3ft Talk Made Of Solid Wood. It Doesn't Weigh Much Though, Maybe 5 Or 10 Lbs. The Arm Hanging Down Swings And The Top Is Just A Handle. It Does Not Move
A boot puller, otherwise known as a boot jack. Heel in the u shaped groove, other foot on the back of that to stabilise it all, swingy bit on the top of the foot, hold the hand grips and lever the boot off the heel by lifting your booted leg up and out.
Cubby Inside Kitchen Of 1950’s Home
Telephone nook/niche.
Bought A House With This Glass Structure In The Backyard, No Idea What It's Supposed To Be
It’s to grow mushrooms. Called a fruiting house. It looks like there is even substrate there that you use in growing mushrooms.
With all this talk about identifying strange objects from pictures, one has to think about whether we could use AI to do the job. If Dog Scanner can tell me how much shih tzu my little rescue pooch has in him, why can't I use it to identify an unknown object? We consulted Celia Quillian, a digital creator who shares her knowledge about artificial intelligence on TikTok and Instagram.
Celia tells us that current AI models are capable of helping us identify an unknown object in a picture. "While at this point in time there are no AI models that can identify absolutely everything, there are many AI tools that have image recognition features," Quillian explains. The best-known tools for that include ChatGPTPlus, Google Gemini, and Microsoft Copilot. "I've used these myself to help identify photos of plants or animals on nature walks," Celia adds.
Promo Item I Received For Free At A Christmas Fair. It Is The Size Of My Hand, The White Top Screws On And Off And The Red Bag Part Expands And Is Pretty Thick
A mini refillable hot/cold pack for headaches or injuries.
Solid Feeling Balls That Chyme/Jingle At A Low Tone When You Shake Them
Baoding balls. They’re for stress and concentration. You're supposed to put them both in the palm of your hand and rotate them around each other in a circle.
Small Ceramic Bowl With Three Small Cones Like Things In The Middle
It is an Ikebana Vase. It is for Japanese style flower arrangements. The flowers go in the tubes and the rest is also filled with water, usually smooth stones, or maybe a small turtle or frog sculpture.
What would the step-by-step look like? "Simply snap a photo of the thing in question and upload [it] to your AI tool with a prompt like 'I came across this <thing/animal/plant> today in <extra context if helpful.> Can you help me identify what it might be?'" According to Quillian, the AI tool might need some help for better identification, like the already mentioned context.
Yellowish Powder (?) On The Inside Of Swimming Suit
The elastic in the fabric disintegrating.
Large Metal Tube With Narrowed Front End, Transported With Police Escort, On An Extended Flatbed Trailer
A spindle that Boeing weaves the carbon fiber fuselage for the Dreamliner on.
What Is This Cubby Above The Built In Stove. There Is No Access To Open It From Any Angle
Sheet pan rack
"A more detailed description of the thing if the image is lower quality or taken from far away can be helpful in identifying [it]," Celia explains. "Generally, the tool will tell you outright what the thing is, or, if it is less clear, it will tell you that it may have trouble with the identification but could propose some suggestions of what it might be."
What Is This Gold Rotating Thing? It’s About 5-7cm In Length And Has What Seems Like Drawings On Each Side?
A letter seal.
Slices Of Rubber Held Together By Metal Brackets, About 10 Pounds. It Hit My Windshield Going 80mph Down The Interstate. Luckily The Windshield Did Its Job And No One Was Injured!
A wheel chock.
Found In My Backyard. It Is Chalky And Will Rub Off If You Run Your Finger On It. Because Of My Dogs, Really Just Want To Make Sure It’s Not Some Kind Of Poison. Thanks!
The clay plug from the bottom of a fireworks tube.
Naturally, AI still isn't perfect and you might run into some challenges. Celia Quillian says that it all comes down to the quality and quantity of training data the AI model has on visuals of this particular type of object.
"Say you made a unique object at home out of a variety of things around the house and posted it to the Internet saying 'This invention is called a Riesmatch!' If you were to then upload a photo of the 'Reismatch' into an AI tool and ask it to identify it, it would not be able to come up with the 'correct' name but rather suggest a description of all of the recognized objects it is made of."
Found At Tide Pools - Green Nylon Pouch With Ziploc Bag Of Mystery Stuff
Congratulations you've found a bean bag!
What Are These Smaller Doors Inside Our Hotel Bathroom Door?
While many are saying “Dutch” door this is actually called “wicket”. A Dutch door has a separate top and bottom half that open together or independently. A wicket is a door (or two in this case) inside of a door. They are used mainly in psych wards as a way to get into a room that may be barricaded.
Wickets are typically small, narrow doors either alongside or within a larger castle or city gate. The latter were often double gates, large and heavy, designed to allow the passage of wagons, coaches and horsemen. The purpose of wickets was to avoid the risk of having to open the main gates to the castle or city for just one or two individuals on foot. Because the wicket was only one person wide, it only allowed entry one at a time and enabled the guards to better control access. In the Middle Ages the narrow doors in the city walls also enabled late arrivals to gain entry after the main gates had been closed.
What Is This Strange Pocket Watch With A Lever And Odd Face?
It's a pocket roulette wheel, modeled to look like a pocket watch for easy concealment but with a rotating dial instead of an indicator hand. It has 12 parts instead of the typical number to look like a broken pocket watch upon inspection. Most likely this one was crafted out of a pocket watch as some of the original frame is visible around the dial/wheel/face.
My friend has one of these that says "don't play with the devil" on one side.
If the image is low quality, blurry, or taken from far away, it might be difficult for the AI tool to identify it. "The quality and abundance of the training data goes the other way as well when it comes to AI image generation," Quillian explains. It's a simple way of saying that AI can have bias too, based on the data it received during its training.
What Is This Tube That This Coast Guard Guy Sticks His Gun Into While Loading It?
In the army we called it a "clearing station". If you were to have an unintentional discharge while clearing the weapon, that chamber would stop the bullet
Way back at my first job I worked for a place that sold and repaired guns. We had a large version of this for test firing. It was a large drum (maybe 20 gallon or so) on it's side on a rack.the interior was stuffed with rubber wadding and there was a hole about the same size as the one in the picture where you'd put the barrel in to test fire it.
Pellets With A Powdery Substance Coating Them, Found On The Floor Of A Garage That Had Not Been Opened For A Few Months, Each Pellet A Bit Larger Than A Tater Tot
Wood stove pellets that got wet.
What Is This Pot With Tubes And A Suction System? Left In My Friends New Apartment From Old Tenants
A milking machine for goats and/or cows.
Celia explains with an example: "If the great majority of images with the label 'Professional' that the AI was trained upon were pictures of white men, giving it the prompt 'Make me an image of a professional' is very likely to result in a picture of a white man, unless there is extra additional detail in the prompt to request a different gender or race, or extra training in the model to specifically avoid such bias."
What Are These Small Bowls With Holes In The Bottom? I Have No Idea What To Do With Them
Pots for succulents.
Round Brown Things With Holes In Them Lining A Small Waterway In St. Pete, Fl
They are artificial reef balls.
They are there to create a "living shoreline" to prevent erosion.
I recently saw someone making these on a TV show. They were bigger though and they were sinking them in deep water. Very cool!
Small Fragrant Cubiod From Morocco, Bought Thinking It Was Soap
Moroccan solid resin perfume bar. It’s made of resin and wax.
So maybe it's still too early to expect AI to recognize an old-timey letter seal. Good thing the r/WhatIsThisThing subreddit exists, then! But still, is AI image recognition technology headed that way? Our AI expert says that the most exciting use of it is in medical images. "AI image recognition will allow doctors to detect and diagnose diseases and medical images even faster and earlier."
And some companies are already doing that! Like the Lithuanian startup Oxipit, which creates AI tools for global medical imaging. Companies that use this technology might help in addressing the global radiologist shortage and improve diagnostic quality.
Set Of 9 Wooden Balls. 4 Black, 4 Brown, And One Smaller Brown Ball. More Details In Comment
Bocce balls
These Chains At Animal Kingdom Disney World, They Are Located On The Safari Tour
Its to prevent animals from moving from zone to zone. The chains are difficult/ uncomfortable for herd animals to walk across so the dont. Similar chanis/bars are used for other cattle and livestock on farms.
Source: been on the safari tour way too many times and had guides tell us that.
Witt? Some Sort Of A Combination Of Tongs And A Strainer?
Handheld colander for fried foods.
A staple in Asian households along with the cleaver and steam basket
However, with the rapid development of AI image recognition technology there also are some ethical considerations to take into account. "From an ethical standpoint, there are also use cases from the security front that involve AI image recognition to monitor for suspicious activities or detecting threats," Celia Quillian tells Bored Panda.
I Dug This Up While On Holiday In Devon, UK. Only The Protruding Cylindrical Part Was Visible And It Was Found ~7m Up A Sand Dune. It Is Solid Metal (Most Likely Iron) And Roughly A Metre In Length. It Didn’t Seem Hollow And Was Unbelievably Heavy. Any Ideas?
With a trunnion on each side, it looks like a small cannon.
Old Wooden Bat-Like Object With Floral Carvings
OP it’s called a tire thumper, 18 wheelers use them to “check their tires”. Really it’s kept under their seat for self defense. *floral carvings would be a bit out of place tho.
Small Waxy Minty Sticks - Looks Like Hot Glue Sticks
Wax for braces/dental work
"While this can be beneficial in many ways, there are also ethical considerations – will [there be] privacy or data collection without a person's knowing consent? Could models for detecting suspicious activity similarly be trained on a biased set of data, leading the AI to more frequently raise false alarms for certain populations of people?"
"I think one of the larger risks, which can be mitigated, is the inherent bias the training data set could have for all use cases, without the proper bounds in place," Quillian adds.
Grid Of Large Metal Cubes On A Pole, Located In The Las Vegas Airport. Not Making Any Noise And No Lights, Maybe An Air Filter Or Something? Located About 8ft Off The Ground And Maybe 20ft Long
A decommissioned arrival/departure display.
Slot machines in the bathroom stalls too. "Insert credit card". Sad.
The University I Used To Attend Had One Of These In Every Classroom -- A Small Black Box With What Appears To Be A Grid Of Leds, Placed Towards The Front Of The Room / Where Students Will Face When Seated
Infrared audio transmitter for the hearing impaired.
What Is This Thing On My Neighbors Balcony? About 1.5 Feet X 8 Inches. Some Type Of Electronic. Small White (Sometimes Red) Light Shining Occasionally. Looks Like It’s Suctioned To The Door
5G Home WiFi, it connects to 5G cell towers and streetlights and gets the best reception when attached to a plane of glass because 5G attenuates through walls.
I Saw This Building At Work The Other Day, Its Detached From Any Other Buildings Its About 15 Ft Tall Windows On All Sides But Only On The Top And A Door In Front
Old deer blind turned into kids' fort
Two Small Metal Items With Cloth Inside The Hole On The Side
They are vintage kazoos, they probably need new baffles in the hole to be able to work properly.
Wierd Hammer-Shaped Thing With Flat Edges
This is an axe for peppermint bark. It comes in the package. Market solved. I’m so excited I’ve never solved one of these.
I Received This Item As A Wedding Gift From An Egyptian Wedding Guest. It Is Nearly 5” Tall And Has A Removable Top With 4small Holes Like A Salt Shaker (Item Is Not Hollow)
It's a narghile/hookah. Looks like it's purely decorative, not really usable.
Cinder Block Walled Hole Under A Concrete Step. What Is The Purpose?
It's part of the foundation. Keeping consistent depth keeps things moving together instead of separately so your steps stay on place and don't heave or drop in time.
What Is This Strap On My Backpack? It Attaches With Velcro, But I Don't Know What It Would Be Used For
That can slide over the handles of suitcases with wheels so if you travel, you can pull it along with your suitcase and it won’t fall off.
These Are Found On Street Corners In Daytona Beach. They Appear To Just Pump Water Up Only For It To Go Immediately To The Storm Drain. I Have Seen A Few Different Designs
They’re timed valves to keep the water in the distribution lines from getting too old. When the water is in the pipe too long the chlorine level drops too much and the water is unsafe.
Easily Malleable Metal, With Diamonds In The Center. I Have Four Of Them, And They Were All Rolled Up Like The First Picture
I think they're accessories for hair braids, try googling 'hair braid cuffs'.
Sword-Looking Thing That Plugs Into Mains Voltage
An electric tie iron.
Small Plastic Spoons With Brown Substance, Individually Packaged And Found In A Public Park Exposed To The Elements
Tamarind spoon. You have Hispanics in the neighborhood. Hit up a liquor store and get a fresh pack and try them out!
A Pole With A Ring Around It And A Heavy Base
An umbrella holder.
for addition context: OP said the metal ring near the base can move up and down, so when it's pushed to the top it can be used an an umbrella/cane holder
I See These Weird Metal Boxes In UK Pubs Down By The Bar And Other Than Impromptu Chewing Gum Bins, What The Heck Are They?
An old ash tray.
Clear Hard Thing. Playing Card For Scale
Magnifier for reading a book.
A White Plastic Stick, That Gets Narrower In The Middle, With Small Hands On Both Ends Given As A Wedding Favour/Gift For Guests
A Muddler Stick / Cocktail Swizzle Stick.
Front Eyelet On Winter Boot. Unsure Of Purpose
Hook for attaching "gaiters"
example that uses the laces themselves but the hook is a far better option because it's independent of your laces which can affect how the boot wears
"Gaiters are a type of protective clothing that covers the gap between your trousers and your boots. They are worn when walking, hiking, or running outdoors, especially in dense underbrush or in snow. Gaiters are designed to easily wrap around the ankle and hook under the heel of your boot with a thin strap."
Small Leather Piece With Straps And Adjustable Buckles
Wife had something similar that was decoration on boots. You could take them off and change them. Its an ornament for a boot. Search for Boot Bracelet. Fits sorta like spurs.
Strange Object Inside A Wooden Box. We Can See Some Numbers At The Base. It Has Some Wires. There's Also A Strange Large Wook. It May Have Some Missing Parts
It's a simple/plane alidade. It's made out of iron and wood. It measures 52cmx22cm. The hook measures 31 cm. The number at the base go from 0 to 1100.
Two Small Fabric Tags Connected By A Continuous Loop Of String. Embroidery Likely Related To Roman Catholic Church. Found Wrapped Around Cash
It’s a scapular, a devotional scapular to be specific.
Black Box With Wires Attached, Found In My 1905 Home’s Crawl Space. 5in Long
Model train transformer
What Is This Small Metal(Seemingly Brass) Rod With A Wavy Arm That Opens?
A spring money clip.
Heavy Shelf? In Durable Plastic With Compartments
I remember these from my kids going to McDonald's back about 20 years ago. The kids' shoes are small, and if they didn't fit toe-first, they shoved them in vertically. It's was all a hope that the shoes would stay together and another kid wouldn't take the wrong shoes. That's why I held their shoes in my bag.
I have this. When I lived in NY, The McDonald’s that was in Walmart was closing. They were throwing out a lot of stuff so I asked if I could keep this shelf like unit. I gave them my number and they said they would call me if they got permission to give it to me. Sure enough I got a phone call to come pick it up. It even still had a few McDonald’s toys in it that were unopened. I have it in storage right now.
What Is This Tape? The Black Part Is Rubber And The Green Is A Plastic. Sticks To Nothing
It’s self fusing silicone tape, without a doubt. Often used in military applications. It does in fact expire, and will cure into a state where it no longer sticks to itself
Headphone Jack Plug? Any Ideas What This Could Be Used For?
I had a friend who had a keychain/key holder like that. Had a mini guitar amp on the wall. The keys attached to what you have. Then plugged into the wall for holding.
What Are These Eight Massive Silver-Ish Metal Spheres Or Containers Floating Near The Shore At A Ship Breaking Yard In Bangladesh?
LNG (liquid natural gas) containers.
What Is This Long Metal Device That Appears To Be 2 Feet Long That Is Touching The Lady’s Nose And Hovering Over The Dog? It Is A Pic From The 1950s And Was Found On Ebay. No Information Given On The Site
The osmoscope. It measures the intensity of odors using an exponential scale in powers of two. The process works by dilution of the odor by air. This tool was created around 1938, and works by diluting the odor in the air. The device is then inserted into a test tube, and holes in the side of the tube allow air to enter. A sliding jacket is then drawn up the osmoscope to progressively cover the tube and holes in order to create a more intense odor.
Swiveling Metal Domes On A Hotel Bed
Those are decorative, but some beds have those to cover the bolts that hold the frame together.
Weirdly Shaped Holding Thingys In A Men’s Bathroom At A German Sports Club Restaurant
Ashtray for cigarettes. Better than people throwing their butts in the urinal like so many others have done.
Roommate Got A Wok And We’re Trying To Figure Out What This Ring Is
It’s for holding the wok level on the stove…
This Chain Inside My Door? It Connects The Door To The Frame And Can Easily Just Be Pulled Out Of The Door (Pic 2)
It's a concealed door closer (and it's broken)
Half Inch Wide, Pushable Button That Is Built Into The Bathroom Vanity. There Are Wires Coming Out The Back Of It, But Nothing Happens When It Is Pushed
Turning on a hot water recirculating system. They’re used for faucets that are far from the hot water tank or tankless heater. They circulate hot water through a manifold and back through the cold water line so hot water is immediately available when the faucet is opened. It reduces water wasted while waiting for hot water to get to the faucet.
What Is This Little Porcelain Thing? Was Found In A Deceased Relatives Wallet
Lid of a dolls house teapot!
Copper Coils In Every Closet In A 1920s House In Seattle. All Coils Are Wired Together Into A Central Line In The Attic
It's a kind of fire alarm, I believe. Doing a reverse image search, I found a Gumsung Fire & Security catalog (from gfs.co.kr; Link to the catalog PDF ), and right on the first few pages, an almost identical device: Image Link
A quick translation indicates "Heat detector by air action"The one you shared a picture of looks in very good condition (better than the example they used for the catalog; might want to take it an antique dealer and see if it's worth anything.
To spare you having to try to translate it, here's the text from the page with your item (as well as a telegraph like the old hardwired ones I've seen used in Boston fire alarms), an 'Electric Fire Sensor'
Previous Owners Left In My Shed. Pretty Heavy 4 Pieces That Fit Together With Little Metal Handles For Lifting Too
Weights for a patio umbrella.
I Bought This At A Thrift Store For 20$ As A Funny Present For A Friend’s Birthday. It Weighs About 30 Pounds, Has Hydraulic Hoses (I Think) And Has A Plug I Have Never Seen
It’s a HUCK pneumatic/electric rivet gun.
Found This While Vacuuming, It's About 2 Cm Long Has Inscription On It "8-20w 1.5". Had Very Small Thread To The Right Had Side, With What Looks Like A Hole Right Through It. Made Of Steel, Sealed In Packaging Shown. Any Ideas What It Might Be?
It's a vape or e-cigarette coil cartridge. More specifically for the eLeaf GS air.
My Wife Found This Tool In Her Car After Getting The Brake Master Cylinder And Booster Replaced. Although It Could Have Been There Before That. It’s About 18” Long And Has Some Kind Of Small Prong At The End
It's part of a windshield removal/installation kit.
This Tupperware Has Triangles That Poke Up Into The Inside. Bottom Side Looks Like An Ice Cube Tray. I Use It For Items That Fat Will Drop Off Of. What Is This For?
It’s the base of a Tupperware container used to hold burger meat. It keeps leftover hamburger patties and such from touching the bottom of the pan.
Rubbery Roller With Stick Next To It On A Street In Germany
It's for holding to the stick and walking on the roller. For children or who ever wants to. We have several of these here. They are not used very often. People just don't recognize the purpose.
A Metal Rod That Is Oddly Shaped. What Is This?
A stand from a Chinese style paper lampshade. The stay keeps the shade in a globe shape rather than collapsing.
I thought the paper lampshades just came like that. I guess they're not magical after all. :(
Found In The Charity Shop, Ceramic With Two Small Holes And An Eggcup Sized Well. Never Seen Anything Like It
It is a porcelain brush holder
What Is This Thing - Thin Metal Wire With Two Twisted Circles At Both Ends. Came With A Set Of Bookmarks. Approx 4-5 Inches In Length
Cheese slicer wire
Weird Cloth Stuffed Object I Got For White Elephant. Woman Who Gave It To Me Doesn't Know What It Is, Her Best Guess Is A Travel Pillow But It Has One Too Many Appendages For That (She Wrote The Airplane Trip Tag). I Apologize For The Bad Lighting, All Help Is Appreciated
It is indeed a travel pillow. The curved part goes under your chin...
Mysterious White Under Kitchen Cabinet Bracket In My 1980's Era Home
Under-cabinet radios used to be pretty popular. It could be the bracket for one of those.
What Are These White Inset Tiles At The Deep End Of My Pool?
A ledge to hold onto.
That makes sense based on the way the pool is built. There's no edge on that side of it. Never seen one like that before.
Two Wooden Blocks Inset With Circular Inserts. In One Block, The Circumferences Of The Pieces Are The Same But Their Heights Vary. In The Other, The Circumferences Vary But The Heights Are Identical. 17” X 3” X 3” / 45cm X 7cm X 7cm
Knobbed cylinders. Used in montessori schools.
The idea of the system is to teach children about proportions, measurements, fractions, etc. by giving them sensory experience with objects that illustrate these mathematical concepts. In the Montessori approach, kids are given the chance to play with these sets starting at a very early age...years before being taught the concepts in the classroom. The thinking is that this will give children a more natural way to acquire mathematical skills.
White Plastic Gear Found In Kitchen After A Children’s Birthday Party
It’s part of the freezer drawer on a french door refrigerator.
Plastic Bottles On Poles Arranged As An X, In Australia
It's an obstruction to keep people off the grass. The pipes were used in a "use what you have" kind of sense, and the bottles are on top to keep the rain from getting into the tubes.
My 10-Year-Old Was Gifted This Star Shaped Container With Some Good Smelling Goo/Ointment Inside (See Pic 2). Is That Something Obvious?
Lip balm. Similar to this: https://www.hottopic.com/product/star-strawberry-lip-balm/20817878.html
Edit: I think it’s from this set: https://www.ebay.com/itm/143980149629
A Glass Container With A Circular Metal Thing With An N On It
Fancy ashtray.
I Found This Recently On The Basement And I Have No Clue What It Is ,it’s Not That Heavy Like Half A Pound Has A Plug And Has Like Coils Inside And It’s Made Of Metal So I’m Curious To See If Anyone Knows What It Is Exactly
It's a knee pedal for a White sewing machine
Brings back memories of my mom's White sewing machine. It had the knee pedal - the "box" was attached to the inside of sewing machine cabinet. Hers had a flat metal bar attached to the box, and you press your knee against the bar to operate the machine. I felt I had better control using the knee pedal vs the foot pedal.
Two Nuts On A Stick. You Can Squeeze Something Small Between... But What For?
A handle for a scrapper.
What Are These White Lines/Hash Marks That Appeared On A Short Stretch Of Suburban Road Near My House? They're In Both Lanes, But At Different Intervals In Each Lane. Https://Youtu.be/H0z_f56t_oa?si=bpdgv2j1kyoauqsc
They remind me of those lines that get closer together as you progress up them, to trick your mind into thinking you are going faster than you are. Usually used when approaching some minor hazard and where other traffic control methods would be inappropriate.
While driving, you get visual effect of the road going narrower, so you slow down.
Solid State White Rectangle With Blue Center Fixed To The Wall Above A Urinal In A Multi Sports Complex. No Scent, No Electronics. What Is This Thing?
An accessibility feature for people who are visually impaired to indicate the center of the urinal.
"No scent" - bruh, you leaned up to the wall above a urinal in a bathroom at a sports complex and sniffed? XD
What Is This Metal Rod 20cm In Length, Spiked Both Ends With One End A Right Angle. Inherited From Airplane Mechanic (Deceased). What Is It Used For?
It's Double End Engineer's Scriber. Commonly known as just a scriber, an engineers scriber tool is used to mark materials, like wood metals and plastics before they undergo machining. They can also be used with various hand tools and are used to mark out the areas to be measured or cut etc.
Corroded Metal “Wheel” About 34” Across Found At The Beach
part of an oil rig
What part of an,oil rig? I worked on them and don’t remember seeing anything like that.
Small Piece Of 1” Conical Plastic Reappears Throughout The House
Wrap from the stem end of a bunch of bananas
Took Away The Fusebox Cover In My Car. Found This Number Keyboard Glued To The Cover With A Wire Going To The Main Wiring Harness, So I Couldn't Trace It
The sigma alarm/immobiliser.
Pen With Metal Balls, With Numbers Next To Where The Balls Drop In. Some Balls Are Grey. Found In Attic
A Lotto Pen. If you point the writing end up, all the balls move to an open area. Shake, put the ball point down and the lottery picks show up in the window. Taken for the Macro Mondays group theme of ‘numbers’.
Approximately 2.5m Tank Like Object. Appears To Be A Lid On Top. Cracked To The Bottom. Small Barnicles Growing To Exterior
India’s PSLV third stage. The cable raceway mounts and the top attachment ring line up exactly, as does the wound composite material.
4-5mm Wide, 3mm High. Tubular In Shape, Visibly Hollow On One Side, With Pokey White/ Yellow/Brown Protrusions Obscuring The Hollow End On The Opposite Side. Hard To The Touch. Gray-Ish/Taupe On The Outside. Found In Mouth During Pancake And Yop Yogurt Drink Meal
Crown came off maybe. Definitely seems dental related.
The original post goes into more detail where it’s actually thought to be part of the packaging machinery that broke off. You can clearly see in the 3rd image of the post that it’s not a crown.
Metal Objects (Largest 10mm) Found In Friends Cat
High caliber pellet gun. The pellet hit something hard and shattered.
What Are These Rectangular Glass Panels On Multiple Different Buildings? They Appear To Be Different Sizes As Well
Upon careful observation of the photograph, it is evident that their presence is associated with the enhancement of the building's design. The array of diverse colors illuminating the walls implies a deliberate effort to infuse the structure with a captivating and much-needed sense of flair.
What Is This Empty Lot With No Entrance Or Exit Behind My Hotel Room For?
Detention pond. That "building" is a drainage port. Bottom hole allows limited outflow and top hole is wide open.
When large buildings are constructed, they effectively "seal" the ground beneath them which would otherwise be permeable. Having a water retention structure ensures that excess runoff is retained on the property as to not stress drainage infrastructure.
What Is The Purpose Of This Plastic Cup/Cannister? Flat Plastic Sticks With A Curved End Are Attached To The Lid, In Colored Sets Of Two. It's Possible To Take The Sticks Out Of The Lid
They are for the sides (arms) of glasses to change the look. Google swap eyewear.
What Is This Phone Charm Thing? Comes Apart And Looks Like A Macaroon When Together
it’s not just a holder, it is the screen cleaner itself, you use it the way you have it in the second pic.
What’s This Peeled Silver Sheet Thing Inside My Microwave?
A waveguide cover.
This Thing Is A Metal Ring About 5 Inches In Diameter With 8 Spokes, Containing A Smaller Ring Half Way In The Radius And A Tiny Ring In The Center
I get WWII anti-aircraft gun sight vibes for some reason.
Thought it might be a bofors gun sight, but it's not quite right. Might be a similar one?
Found These Perfectly Cylindrical Rocks In The James River In Virginia
Carbon rods from batteries
What Is This Oddly Shaped Sink Used For?
Google tells me it's a bar sink or food prep sink.
edit: Some photos show a cutting board in the half-moon area between the counter's edge and the inside curve of the sink.
I can't imagine it would be good as the only sink in a kitchen, but might be fine as a secondary sink in the kitchen or as a sink in an entertainment area.
Saw This Truck In Moab Utah With An Array Of What Appeared To Be Small Antennas... Maybe To Track Something?
Direction finding (DF), or radio direction finding (RDF), is the use of radio waves to determine the direction to a radio wave source. The source may be a cooperating radio transmitter or may be an inadvertant source, a naturally-occurring radio source, or an illicit or enemy system. Radio direction finding differs from radar in that only the direction is determined by any one receiver; a radar system usually also gives a distance to the object of interest, as well as direction.
Post-It Note Sized, 1.5’’ Tall Orange Transparent Plastic Thing With A Hinged Lid That Opens Up And A Ridged Cylinder That Spins Inside. Marked With ‘Settle-Carlisle Line’. Found In An Old Office Space
The Settle-Carlisle Line is a railway line in the UK. It is in current use and is also a historic route that (at least used to) run a fleet of historic steam locomotives and period carriages.
No idea why they would be handing this thing out though. Earplug storage?
so the post here doesn't include the answer, apparently it's a paperclip dispenser
Weird Computer Contraption, Found While Taking Photos Of A House
Crypto mining setup by the look of it. They'll be a rack full of video cards (or possibly dedicated crypto cards) used to mine bitcoin or similar.
What Are These 9' High Wooden And Steel Structures?
This social infrastructure takes the form of a tensile fabric shading element suspended within a wooden frame. The frames are comprised of prefabricated modules and were assembled on this remote site. The structures were intended to provide shade and a moment of rest, but supported emergent activities acting as a platform, a playground, a marker, a memory, and more.
What Is The Light Brown/Tan Pouch Dangling From The License Plate Frame?
A deer tail car decoration for Christmas.
Well... have you ever seen a deer? It's a rubber fender, to not scratch your bumper when parking in your garage.
Heavy Bronze Football-Shaped Object With Two Rotating “Wings”
Shoutout to Marine Antiques in San Diego. Yessery Bob!!
I wen't to the original query and it's thought to be a feathering prop for a sail boat. Lazy choice of the reply from those choosing the explanation off the Reddit site. The "shoutout" comment was from some random reply to someone else's comment...
I love these “mystery item” posts. Some things I’ve seen before, most I haven’t.
also people on that reddit are @$$es, i needed help ID some mushroom, and they got upset i pulled it out, which i did cause my dog tried to eat it, and i wanted to make sure it wasn't bad if he did, it was long and white with like tabaco ash inside the "bulbhead" of the mushroom, and they called me stupid and other stuff, I'm like I just don't want it to hurt my dog
I couldnt just google it cause i couldn't find it on google so that was my other idea, then they yelled at me for pulling it out, "making it" and for not finding it on google
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I love these “mystery item” posts. Some things I’ve seen before, most I haven’t.
also people on that reddit are @$$es, i needed help ID some mushroom, and they got upset i pulled it out, which i did cause my dog tried to eat it, and i wanted to make sure it wasn't bad if he did, it was long and white with like tabaco ash inside the "bulbhead" of the mushroom, and they called me stupid and other stuff, I'm like I just don't want it to hurt my dog
I couldnt just google it cause i couldn't find it on google so that was my other idea, then they yelled at me for pulling it out, "making it" and for not finding it on google
Load More Replies... 