50 Times People Had No Idea What They Were Looking At And Asked The Internet For Help (New Pics)
Curiosity isn’t a sin, so long as you don’t go poking your nose into spooky dungeons and haunted fortresses without preparation. I firmly believe that curiosity and the bright-eyed search for knowledge are what truly make us human. Many of us are willing to put our ego and pride aside to ask for help when we’re stumped. Even more fortunate still is that the world’s chock full of people willing to lend a helping hand.
That is where the popular ‘What is This Thing’ online community comes in. A subreddit that’s home to nearly 2 million members, r/whatisthisthing helps people identify mysterious artifacts and peculiar-looking items, wherever they might be found. They’ve got a great track record and it sometimes feels like there’s nothing that their collective wisdom can’t figure out. Either that or they’ve got an endless supply of Scrolls of Identification hidden somewhere safe.
Today, we’re featuring the subreddit’s best recent posts. We’re pretty sure that these will awaken your inner sleuth, not your inner sloth. Scroll down, upvote your favorite pics, and let us know in the comments if you’ve got any bizarre unidentified items at home. In the mood for more amateur detective work? Don’t sweat it, Bored Panda has got it covered. You’ll find our previous articles about r/whatisthisthing right over here, here, and here.
More info: Reddit | Frequently Asked Things
This post may include affiliate links.
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.
Nice to know someone somewhere thinks that bats aren't all vampires!
Weird Glass Ball, Suspended By Screws, In A Metal Frame, Bronze Or Gold Colour In Appearance
Answer: It is a Campbell-Stokes sunshine recorder. You place a strip of card into one set of grooves in the piece that curves behind the sphere, point the opposite side of the sphere towards the equator, and the sphere will focus the sunlight to burn a track on the card. The card has hours marked, and more the card is burnt, the brighter the sunlight was.
Found This Glass Like Tube “Shell” Washed Up On A Beach In North Carolina, Any Idea What It Is?
Answer: Stingray teeth
The subreddit has been steadily gaining fame and helping solve mysteries, simple and serious alike, for over a decade. It was founded way back in September 2010 and has grown by leaps and bounds since then. Just a couple of years ago, the sub had 1.17 million fans. Getting nearly a million extra members in that time is quite an achievement.
However, it’s very easy to see why the subreddit’s such a big hit online. First of all, the photos pique our curiosity. We’re not know-it-alls, so naturally, we’re a bit intrigued when we see something unfamiliar and can’t wait to expand our minds.
Secondly, the subreddit’s community is incredibly warm and friendly. They’re always happy to lend a helping hand and assist others with their queries. And finally, it really does look like the sub’s got everything figured out. There are rarely any cases when somebody doesn’t respond with the correct answer.
My Neighbors Shared An Unsettling Video Of A Woman Holding This Device Up To Their Ring Doorbell. She Walked Up, Held It Directly In Front Of The Camera While It Made A Clicking/Buzzing Noise And Then Left Quickly. Any Ideas Of What It Might Be Or If We Should Be Worried?
Answer: It's a frequency scanner. Often used by car thieves. These can read the codes from that distance and enable thieves to get into your vehicle, disable the security features in the process, and drive away with your car.
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
Found These Soft Metal Objects While Metal Detecting Under A Pier At Low Tide
Answer: they’re good luck/prayer charms that are tossed in the water on purpose.
Put them back then I guess, it's where they are meant to be? Or is it a pollution problem?
A while back, one of the moderators helping manage r/whatisthisthing told me that there are several reasons why people become amateur online detectives. Part of this is due to the “thrill of the chase” and folks wanting to show off their research skills. While another reason why people help others identify obscure items, they told Bored Panda, is that everything simply looks incredibly interesting and they can’t help but get drawn in.
“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 explained to Bored Panda that the community has a lot of great experts in their midst.
According to them, it’s very rare indeed for someone to share a photo on r/whatisthisthing and for nobody to know what exactly it might be. They told me at the time that under 10 percent of all cases don’t get solved on the subreddit. Which is a tiny fraction when you consider how large the online group actually is.
“A majority of things are solved within 15 minutes of posting,” the moderator said.
Just Bought A Lake Home And Found Three Of These In The Water Next To The Pier. Criss-Cross Stack Of Corrugated Pipes Wrapped In Plastic Netting All Weight Down By Bricks
Answer: It is a fish crib. It is a device to give baby fish a place to hide from the big boys. They also make for some good fishing as the lunckers will hang around hoping for a few little ones to come out
Ammunition With A Weird Shiny Tip, Could Be 30mm? Worried If Inert Or Not. Found On Glacier In Swiss
Answer: Artillery expert here
What you have there is a projectile from the 35x228mm Oerlikon Flab Kan 63/90 (Same gun that is on the Flugabwehrkanonenpanzer Gepard).
From the fact it has an aluminium dummy fuze (the large cutouts make it obvious there is not enough space for the fuze mechanism) and it looked like it was painted bluish-grey, that makes it an "Übungsgranate" - a Target Practice shot. Be advised that doesn't mean it's inert, because even a TP shot can have active pyrotechnic devices like tracers and I can't see the bottom of it.
My advice, is, as always, call EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal, AKA the "bomb squad") and they'll sort it for you, because you don't do demining over the internet.
Found Inside A Musical Instrument, It Is The Size Of A Big Grape But There Aren't Any Holes Big Enough For It To Have Fallen Inside
Answer: They have these in violins. They call them the mouse. It’s just years and years of fluff and detritus. If they get repaired the repairer will put ‘the mouse’ back into the violin for good luck. It could be something like that.
It’s not all just fun and games, however. Internet users are putting their deductive skills to the test in real-life scenarios as well. The subreddit has an offshoot called Trace an Object that searches for objects linked to child abuse cases, posted by Europol.
“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 moderator said.
Flying Over An Area Outside Of Tucson We Saw This Hole And It Looks Like It Has Water In It
Answer: Pit mine, the spiral you see is the actual road trucks drive on to transport the materials mined from the bottom to the top.
Gives you an idea of the size of this thing if the spirals are truck roads, eery.
What Is This Random Set Of Stairs With A Platform? It’s Located At The Entrance To A Local Forest With Walking Trails
Answer: This is for horse mounting.
Trunk Full Of Chemicals In 1920's Home, What Is It/For?
Answer: It says "International Correspondence Schools" which still exists.
Probably a course on chemicals?
Now, be careful. Chemical regulations in the 20's were not the same as now. Based on your pictures, you could have nasty toxic chemicals that can go through a glove and kill you (the mercury vial), explosive degradation products (ammonium) and other surprises like that. Earth near from them could be contaminated too.
I suggest you do not linger near from them. Perhaps you can arrange a meeting with a university chemical lab and know more about the set, including safe disposal options.
I've got one of these did not know how to dispose of theses chemical so thanks!
If you’re planning on joining r/whatisthisthing, there are a few rules that you need to be aware of. Naturally, you’re encouraged to be helpful and civil. What’s more, members are not supposed to joke around: they ought to be serious and to the point.
Meanwhile, if you’re answering someone’s query, you really should add a link so that others can help fact-check things. On the flip side, if you’re the one asking for help, you should reply ‘Solved!’ when the mystery’s been unraveled. Though don’t delete the post once you’ve got the knowledge you sought. Leave it up there for others to find so they can sate their curiosity, too.
It’s Upside But Looks To Be A Feeder Or Nester Of Some Sort, Attached To The Top Of The Fence By Previous Owner. What Is This Thing?
Answer: It's for bees, particularly Mason bees
What Is This Thing Hanging Outside My Fireplace. It Seems To Have Gears Inside Of It, And Pivots Into The Fireplace
Answer: it's a clockwork spit turner for turning a roast or other meat automatically.
Blue Nets Tied Between The Trees. Found While Hiking In The Cinque Terre National Park In Italy
Answer: these are nets for catching the fruit from the tree - currently rolled up because there is no fruit. They were spread out to cover the area beneath the trees when I was there in late summer.
What Are These Strands/Threads Coming Out Of My Crackers?
Answer: This is 100% frayed edges of the conveyors that take the crackers through the sheeting process before being transferred to the oven band.
This Fancy Hotel Has A Shallow Tub With Two Sides. When The Button Is Pressed, One Side Lights Up With A Red Light And Hot Water For About 30 Seconds. Then The Other Side Lights Up With Blue Light And Cold Water And Shuts Off After The Same Amount Of Time
Answer: This is very common in Germany, we call it "Wechselbad". You're supposed to keep your feet in the warm water first and then quickly put them in the cold water (repeat a few times). This is supposed to help with circulation although I'm not sure if there's actually scientific evidence for that.
We usually have these in spas and other wellness or health related facilities.
Maybe you could warm your butt and cool your feet without getting your knees wet!
I Know This Isnt Exactly An Object But Was Hoping You Guys Could Still Help Me Out. What Is This Purple Smoke?
Answer: it's a byproduct of burning rubbish with a high iodine content
Real Life Looking Eyeball, Maybe Glass? With 3 Holes On The Metal Piece. Found At A Flea Market
Answer: Its a promotional key ring for a company that makes glass eyes for taxidermy
What Are These Vest With Liquid Pouches Worn By Olympic Sailors For? Worn By Dutch Sailors Bekkering And Duetz During A Post Race Interview
Answer: They are cooling vests
Two Of These Buildings On A Lot Where New Housing Is Going To Be Built
Answer: Bat house
Full Tub With Deep Front Half. USA. Listing Calls It A Mailman Tub. Google Results In Rule 34
Answer: a hip bath
Heavy Black Balloon (?) Hanging Under White Net In A Field
Answer: Home made horse fly trap
They really do work well for what they are. At the camp site I go to in summer they have one of these near the swimming pool. It really helps to get rid of the horse flies that used to be there.
These Strange Dust Patterns Keep Showing Up On Screens Of My Apartment Windows
Answer: Previous tenant smoked w a fan in the window. I’ve seen this so many times turning over apartments for work.
Once it's cleaned should they not be gone? Keeps appearing a smoking ghost?
Found This Buried. It's Flat On One Side, Concaved On The Other And Has A Hole Right Through The Middle
Answer: this is likely to be a prehistoric or Roman quernstone
Would be nice if they explained what a quernstone even is. Had to google, so for those who want to know. A quernstone is a handgrinding tool, usually with two parts.
A Small Plastic And Metal Device, Found In The Card Slot Of An ATM
Answer: a Lebanese loop used in atm fraud
I always run my finger along the card readers at ATM's to feel for anything dodgy like what's pictured, glue or looseness etc.
What Is This Pot Inside Of The Fireplace Of The Apartment I Am Renting In Italy?
Answer: Looks like a bed warmer. You put hot coals/embers in it and move it over your sheets (like an iron) to warm the bed up.
Metal, Plastic, And Canvas-Looking Fabric Clips. They Are A Few Inches Long And Some Say Flatex
Answer: the things attached to a garter belt to hold up stockings
Stockings made a brief comeback in the 80s, which I appreciated as a short person. However I later discovered holdups, and the suspender belt got binned
What Is This Pool In The Middle Of Nowhere
Answer: a water reserve for fire fighting
What Is This Cling Film Type Stuff On Tom Daley’s Arms, And What’s It For?
Answer: Cling filmed ice packs
Part Of Silverware Set. It Has A Corkscrew Tip, But It Is Not Sturdy Enough To Be Used As S Corkscrew. Thoughts For Its Purpose?
Answer: It's a butter pick.
Witt Found In Older Tool Box (At Least 10 Years Old). Part With Spokes Rotates, Spokes (Of Different Diameters) Match Up To Hole In The Oposite Side Of The Tool. Sharpie Marker For Size
Answer: It is for punching holes in leather or similar things. Like, for a belt
Stainless Steel Curved Rods. Largest Is About 9 Inches. They Have Been In Family Since The 40s They All Fit Inside Of One Another. Best Guess So Far Is Glove Finger Stretchers
Answer: Nested set of seven plated medical cervical dilators
In The Middle Of The Wall In My 1906 House; There Is Also One On The Other Side Of The Wall And One In A Different Room Without A Buddy In The Other Side Of The Wall
Answer: It's a capped off gas line from when they used gas lighting.
A Kitchen Utensil With A Wooden Handle, Attached To A Round Metal Cup With 3 Spikes (With Holes In)
Answer: Funnel for making a portugese sweet called "Fios de Ovos" or egg threads.
This Thing Is Made Of Terracotta And Has Sunflowers On Each End
Answer: That’s a taco holder.
Any Ideas What Someone Left At My House Party? Small Green Ridged Brick, Hole In The Middle, Crumbles When I Scratch It
Answer: rat/rodent poison.
My House (Built In The Mid 70's) Has One Of These In Almost Every Room. Same Size As A Switch Plate, With Copper Wire Strung To The Eleven Sockets
Answer: The three prong ones were for TV and FM antennas, and the center one was for an antenna rotator, to get better reception.
Plastic And Hollow, Size Of A Big Suv, The Tide Never Reach It, Attached To The Ground
Answer: Large Ship bumper/fender. The are Used to keep huge ships from smashing in the pier.
What Are These Small White Balls That Keep Appearing In The Corner Of My Window?
Answer: Styrofoam, but if you cut it in half, you should be able to determine if it's a spider egg or Styrofoam pretty easily
The fact that they keep appearing and seem to be on webs makes me suspect the latter
What Is This Pink "Dust" That Keeps Reappearing In The Corners Of My Kitchen Ceiling Within A Few Hours Of Being Cleaned?
Answer: grain mites
Old Object With Mirror, Foldable, Can Be Opened And From "Longworth"
Answer: It is a laryngoscope
New Bra I Bought Online Has A “Microchip” Inside Of It. Looks Pretty Fake To Me But Can’t Pinpoint What Is It Exactly And Why Such Lengths To Have It Inside The Hems Like This
Answer: New age "healing" stuff, like the magnetic bracelets and such.
Found This In A Random Box Of Kitchen Supplies. Is This Just For Carving Meat Or Some Other Food?
Answer: It's to slice bread
Variable Stop Sign In Illinois
Answer: These are blinders, typically used so the sign can old be read from a narrow angle. They're also called directional shields. You'll see them on traffic lights a lot more often.
My Metals Professor In College Does Not Know What This Thing Is. We Dont Either And He Has Multiple Of Different Sizes. The Box Has No Info Besides What Is Shown In The Photo. It Is Some Kind Of Ceramic Material With An Inverted Dome In The Center. Any Help?
Answer: It is a slate dish for grinding flux.
Back in the day, you put a little water in it and rubbed a borax cone in it to make up the day’s flux.
This Object Is Hanging From The Ceiling Of Our Waiting Room At The Hospital. It’s A White Smooth Dome With No Numbers Or Labels Of Any Kind. Anyone Know What This Is For? My Thought Was WiFi Or A Signal Booster
Answer: Signal booster
What Is This S-Shaped Metal Ornament On This House?
Answer: Anchor plate or wall washer. It’s meant to keep masonry in place. And made esthetic because they are visible. There a bolt going on the other side, in the center. And hold the bricks in place
If you see an older house and there is a whole row of these plates, it's used to carry the floors to the upper stories. These floors are literally just bolted to the walls with huge iron bolts (and the plates are often shaped to represent the year the house was built).
What Are These 2 Metal Studs On The Side Of This ATM?
Answer: Pretty sure they put those on there to stop skimming.
No need to down vote Mazer so much. They just did not know. I actually audit ATMs for ADA compliance. There are many strict regulations. If you are interested check out ADA chapter 700 - 708. Typical audit cost about $300 per ATM. Most state have lighting requirements too. You can buy a device that measure lighting power for $100 - 300 based in the model and features. If you use a credit union, see if they'll give you a copy of their most recent ATM lighting assessment. It is required to be completed annually. They may not give it to you, but they should be doing it annually for all ATMs. They're also required to receive a report showing the amount of crime near the ATM.
Opened Up An Old Motor I Acquired At A Garage Sale, Took This Part Off The Top And There’s A Sponge And Some Wires Inside. Why Is There A Sponge Inside?
Answer: The cover is for the start or run capacitor, foam is probably just to stop it from rattling
Found This Digging Around The Mouth Of A Major Caribbean Harbor (On My Property). Did This Come Out Of A Cannon?
Answer: 100% a cannonball
What Are These Odd Train Cars?
Answer: Those are called “wedge plows”
Pushed from behind by a locomotive to clear snow. The hydraulic “wings” on the side can be extended to increase the lateral amount of snow being cleared, depending on snow depth.
Looks like that one was built in 1948. I know they’ve been in continual service in Canada for 120+ years.
What Is This ~6 Inch Tall Piece Of Plastic With A Metal Base That Collapses In To It?
Answer: It's a clarinet stand
This Looks Like A Typewriter But The Letters Are In Alphabetical Order
Answer: A keyboard panel from a tabletop jukebox selector.
Found At A Farm House, The Arm Swivels And The Drum Spins
Answer: For making butter.
What Is This Weird Net Of Cables And Weights On The Building?
Answer: It's a wire trellis system for a living wall. The weights at the bottom keep the wires taut
What is a living wall? A building method, or is it new and going to get plants grown on it?
What Is This Metallic Construction Found In The Middle Of Nowhere In The Swiss Alps? It’s Wrapped With Barbed Wire
Answer: it’s a snow and/or rain gauge
Large, White Container Found On Flatbed On The Highway In Midwest Us. Says "Urgent " On The Label
Answer: It's a shipping container for a General Electric CF34 Turbofan Engine, commonly fitted to Embraer and Bombardier Jets.
It'll be urgent because there will be an Aircraft sat on the ground waiting for it (AOG).
What Is This Cast-Iron Contraption With Cage And Magnifying Glass?
Answer: Orchid Magnifier.
Off all the things I see here. This is the strangest to me. I understand the intended use, but why? Can't you just enjoy orchid as it is. Why do you need to magnify it?
Found This “Key” On The Ground At Work (Hospital). Doesn’t Match Any That We’re Given. Thin Metal, With A Small Slit In The Top
Answer: "Jiggler key" . meant to jiggle locks open.
Mysterious Vial With Amber Fluid Found Inside Grocery Store. Small As A Pill?
Answer: Fire suppressant sprinkler fuse
My Apartment Builder Fixed This Random Looking Thing On The Roof .not Sure What It Is And What It Does. It Was Recently Fixed And I'm Not Sure If It Is Anything Significant. Can Anyone Fill In My Curiosity
Answer: It’s a reflector for surveying. Most likely used to determine building movement/settling over time.
They're often used if subterranean tunneling is in-progress to monitor any disturbance to surrounding buildings.
What Is This Giant Tower? It Has Windows On The Side, And It Can't Be Much Wider Than A Staircase. It Is Connected To A Tiny House Labeled ''fire Station''. Small Town In Quebec, Canada
Answer: a hose tower
To dry hoses after being used. That way they are empty and dry, and you can roll them properly. Also common in France and Germany.
What Is This Thing? It's Soft And Squishy And About 3/4 Of An Inch Long. I Found About A Dozen Of Them
Answer: I’ve found these buried in my grass before. After asking my buddy who is a Gardner/landscaper, they are a form of fungus.
Look up Stinkhorn fungus
Put them back, wait for a cool morning and be amazed at what they become. They have a very weird smell that can sometimes be pleasant and sometimes smell rancid.
Plastic Box Attached To Some Of The Railings In An Nfl Stadium
Answer: An enclosure for a WiFi antenna.
Two Plastic Bullet-Type Things I Found In The Pen Pokets Of My Alpha Industries Bomber Jacket
Answer: Pocket protector. The caps prevents your pen from staining your coat.
Pipes Running Throughout A Wooded Area. Spotted Near A Quarry In Pa. What Are They For?
Answer: They are for tapping sap to make syrup. They no longer use taps and buckets (for large scale production), they string it back with pipes to a central large collector like this
Some people still use taps and buckets -for smaller producers - tastes better this way!
Banana Sized And Shaped Old Tool(?) Found In Old Barn In Sweden. Wooden Handle With Rusty Metal Tip
Answer: A seed dibber
Seen Yesterday In Columbus, Oh; Seems Fragile To Leave Uncovered On A Truck
Answer: Pipe pigs. For inspecting pipelines.
What Is This Thing On The Bar Counter At Work? It Is Made Of Metal And Hollow
Answer: It's an old fashioned countertop bottle opener, I've seen loads of these in old pubs. The bottles are opened from the other side.
Random Circular Holes In Concrete Sidewalk. They Appear All Over Town And Have Been There Ever Since The Concrete Was Laid
Answer: Looks like core samples being taken
Large Concrete Containers With Slab Lid. Completely Enclosed. Being Buried Together. Hundreds
Answer: burial vaults for a new cemetery
These burial vaults are buried first when cemetery spaces are marked out to exact length and can then be sold as plots. It prevents the ground from creating depressions in the ground as older cemeteries have when old coffins inevitably collapse. The vaults pictured are the standard "easier open" tops instead of the single slab more expensive style that once sealed and dried are VERY difficult to reopen.
Heavy, Metal Box. The Top Has A Heavy Lid
Answer: It looks like a storage box for a high activity radioactive source.
Found Four Of These Capsules Filled With What Appears To Be Metal Shavings?
Answer: It’s a pill for ruminant animals
These Husks Maybe Meant For Smoking? Left Behind At A House A Bought By An East African Man Along With A Bunch Of BBQ Supplies
Answer: hyphaene
It can be chewed or boiled and then strained and drink. Should have a sweet taste.
Is This Gold Inside My Activated Carbon Undercounter Water Filter?!
Answer: copper-zinc, used in filters to filter heavy metal
A Very Light Glass Tube With A Hole At The Top And A Thinner, Upwards Bending Tube Coming Out From One Side. Found In My Grandpa‘S Attic In Switzerland
Answer: Looks to me like an old time asthma inhaler
A White Cubicle With A Black Glass Screen And A Control Panel On Top
Answer: Portable steam room.
What Are These Solid White Domes Of Varying Sizes The One Pictured Here Is About A Meter High And Meter Wide Though Some Were Bigger. Found All Over The Andalusian Region Of Spain. They're Solid With No Openings And Seem To Be Made Of Some Sort Of Solid Rendered Material Maybe Concrete
Answer: It's a well cap, in Spanish "aljibe"/ cistern. They are very typical in Almería, cabo de Gata area.
What Are These Red Things? They Are On The Steps Of A Church In The City I Live In. They Don’t Have Wheels But They Are Easy To Move
Answer: place to set things if you sit on the stairs next to them. Like a mini end table
What Is This Bubbling Out Of The Ground In My Yard? Purplish Metallic Gooey Inside. Keeps Bubbling Even If I Dig A Thin Layer Down With A Shovel
Answer: expanding foam
Removable Stair Shelves In Older Home On Second Staircase (Seen On Zillow). What’s The Purpose?
Answer: often these small second staircases lead into the kitchen and the shelves are used to "convert" the staircase into a pantry because some people find it more convenient to have a pantry than a second staircase.
Large Machine Connected To A School Building With A Barrel Underneath It
Answer: Dust collection system, probably coming out of the wood shop
I've seen one of these before! And sure enough, it was outside a workshop where they teach carpentry. :D
Found In Family Members Workshop, Appears To Be Cast Steel Or Iron, Hand For Scale
Answer: Vintage mailbag hook.
Catcher hook. Mail bags were hung on them so trains could collect them without stopping
Witt Lantern With 4 Sides Of Differently Coloured Glass. Green Red White And Blue. Might Have Been Used At A Railroad Station
Answer: It is, the colors correspond to different actions. White/clear is to stop another train, blue is for marking equipment not to be moved, green is proceed with caution and red is stop
Ideal having white / clear as stop because it's a failsafe - broken or missing glass means the train stops until things are sorted
Witt In Front Of This Door? Friend Posted It On Fb And No One Is Sure Yet. Broad Ripple, Indiana
Answer: A dam for flood waters.
Glass Hollow Oval With Clear Glass Stopper And Three Glass Legs. It Has An Indentation On The Bottom With A Hole In The Middle Of It. What Is This?
Answer: Fruit fly trap.
Wife Ordered Rolls Of Thank You Stickers On Ebay. This Came Instead. Already Called For Return. What Are They? Green Cylindrical Rolls Of What Smell Like Green Tea? I'm A Big Tea Drinker And That's What I Think
Answer: plant fertilizer sticks
What Is This Ferrous Metal Sphere With A Cutout? There Were About 100 At A Scrap Yard
Answer: Laser Tracker Ball
Smooth 500g Oval Shaped Chrome Plated Weight?
Answer: Manual scale calibration. It’s so you know the exact weight of an object when you compare it to another object, want to tare the scale
This Was In My Bandaid Wrapper Instead Of A Bandaid. Almost Rubbery. Solid Construction, Not Sticky, Same On Opposite Side
Answer: This is a Mylar overlay used for quality control. You place it over a cut adhesive and use a Calliper to measure the max differential in length and width.
Found In A Thrift Store - Glass Object, Plugs In, Several Openings With A Central Tube
Answer: It’s an old subwoofer for a computer, Apple used to sell a version back in the day
I Found These Purple And White (Medical?) Things In The Center Console Of A Rental From Enterprise, I Also Found About 6 Dollars Cash So I Know It Wasn't Cleaned Properly, What Are They?
Answer: Those are BD brand lancets for pricking fingers, for checking blood glucose
Well now that's not safe. Enterprise is wrecking a perfectly good starship name with bad PR
A Complex Machine With Gears And Wheels Found On A Glass Slide Photographed In The 1930s. Negative Came From A Portrait Photographer Who Took Photos Of And Around Milwaukee, Wi
Answer: a steam turbine
Trivia: The phrase "Balls to the wall" as describing working at a furious pace comes from the governor mechanism on steam engines (see above). When the balls were spun out to full extension (too the wall) the engine was running at its maximum possible speed.
Plastic-Like, Circular Object (3 Cm), Made Of "Cells" (As In Beehives) Distributed Around 4 Concentric Rings. Found On Several Beaches, Sardinia (Italy)
Answer: biofilm used to treat waste water
Metal Wheel On The Back Of A Vanity
Answer: They are to connect a mirror to the back. I would imagine there are holes threw the top directly above them.
To adjust the mirror - so you can see your entire outfit in segments - no full length mirrors then!
Green Build Up In Water Boiler
Lime deposit, consisting mainly of calcium carbonate. It often builds up inside kettles, boilers, and pipework.
Where I am, lime deposits are white. What might account for color variation?
Found In Our New House On The Top Landing Bannister Rail. Seems Like It’s Meant To Hold Something But Not Sure What It Is?
Answer: Appears to be a 3M Command hair dryer holder
Found This Plugged Into The Wall At My Airbnb… Host Says It’s A Night Light Can I Get Some Confirmation?
Answer: Automatic LED Light
What Is This Attachment On The Shower Wall In Our Apartment? Looks Too Wide To Hold Soap I Think
Answer: sponge holder
In Someone's Front Yard In Utah. A Few Neighbors Had Them. Holes Were Drilled Into Certain Squares In The Grid
Answer: grids/drill holes used for dynamite excavation.
Modular Curved Wooden Pieces With Two 1/2" Holes In Each Segment. Only One Hole In Each Segment Goes Completely Through The Wood For A Simple Wooden Dowel To Keep It All Together. The Other Hole Only Goes Halfway. Bought At Thrift Shop
Answer: a candle holder
I Saw This In A Theater, What It This Piece Of Metal ? (8 Years Questionning Myself. Please Help)
Answer: it's a light but school didn't pay for this option
Two Flat Metal Round Disks With Long Stem Attached By Hinges. No Markings. Found In A New Kitchen
Answer: its a flame snuffer
Witt? Saw It On The Pavement (Sidewalk) In London. It Looks Like A Piece Of Fabric Between Two Bolts Stuck To The Pavement
Answer: It was holding down tubes for a pneumatic traffic counter.
We Got This From An Elderly Friend, Who Claims It's Something For Your Hands
Answer: Device for ergotherapy.
OT/PT Therapy Assistant Here, it’s a device to strengthen hand and fingers, a set of elastic bands comes with the device to attach to the fingers to give resistance when flexing and extending. The dials change the amount of tension the device gives. It’s a very old model probably from the 60’s
This Little Plastic Basket/Holder Inside The Far Corner Of A Trolley. The Rivets Suggests It's For Something Oddly Specific. Asked The Supermarket Staff, They Had No Idea
Answer: It's a Bitz Box (ClipOn storage solution)
Ashtray With Another Spot Above. I’m Curious About What The Circle Is For
Answer: a table lighter
Just FYI that ashtray is a beauty. It might be a material called Jadite, a very collectible antique type of glass. Jadeite glass is usually blacklight responsive and has a glow when shined at with a blacklight. This is due to trace amounts of uranium (not a harming amount) that give it this property.
The Strange Chair With A Bowl Attachment In My Workplace Bathroom
Answer: First aid chair
Found From Set Dec On Film Set, No One Knows What This Is. Handle Is About Three Feet, Circle Is Around 10" Diameter
Answer: It's a handle attachment for a commercial blower vacuum. We used to use them to remove/install insulation in attics.
Some Kind Of Targeting Calibrator? Directly Across The Road From Gowen Air Base In Boise
Answer: Ballistic solution board
Witt? Zip Tied To The Underneath Of My Mountainbike Seat. Flimsy Plastic And There Are 2 Of Them
Answer: It's a pad spacer
Metal Structure On Top Of Flat Top Mountain In Utah. South Facing Solar Panel With Antennas On The North Side. Interestingly Enough, It Has A Button On The Outside That Activates A Bell Inside The Structure When Pressed. Picture Of External Control Panel Included
Answer: an amateur radio repeater on
Flat Top
What Is This Plastic Green Bumpy Thing? (Seen On Construction Site Building Tramlines)
Answer: Used for cabinets with underground installation by the looks
Round, Metallic Looking Piece, Halfway Stuck In The Ground, Placed In West Germany. Was Afraid To Get Closer. Explosive? I Called The Police. They Cleared The Area And Send Me Away
Answer: Wheel Cap from Trabant.
Found In Storage At The Post Office. Accordion Style Metal Contraption
Answer: Rv septic hose holder. Allows to hose to rest on it and gravity to pull the poo out of the black water tank
I think that is a collator for sorting mail. I used to work with one in an office. This was before the copy machine sorted docs for you.
I like posts like this but several answers did not clear things up, only raised more questions.
I kinda liked that. I looked into an object more if I was interested in it, but I didn’t have to read a really long explanation for each post.
Load More Replies... I love posts like these! It's almost like a history of problem-solving.
That’s an interesting way of looking at this! Thanks for posting.
Load More Replies...
I am so good : i guessed the correct answer only for six of these pictures...🤣🤣🤣
Is there a website where you can get an instant answer to what your object is, without descending into the seven levels of Reddit hell?
Take your best guess and then hit up Wikipedia? Of course, you could end up spending your entire day reading Wikipedia...
Load More Replies...
Anybody what these structures are? There are quite a few of these structures along the water by the dyke where I live. dyke-61c43...63addd.jpg 
I like posts like this but several answers did not clear things up, only raised more questions.
I kinda liked that. I looked into an object more if I was interested in it, but I didn’t have to read a really long explanation for each post.
Load More Replies... I love posts like these! It's almost like a history of problem-solving.
That’s an interesting way of looking at this! Thanks for posting.
Load More Replies... I am so good : i guessed the correct answer only for six of these pictures...🤣🤣🤣
Is there a website where you can get an instant answer to what your object is, without descending into the seven levels of Reddit hell?
Take your best guess and then hit up Wikipedia? Of course, you could end up spending your entire day reading Wikipedia...
Load More Replies... Anybody what these structures are? There are quite a few of these structures along the water by the dyke where I live. dyke-61c43...63addd.jpg
