Nate
The internet isn’t just for people yelling at each other (though it can feel that way sometimes). Every now and then, people actually come together to solve the ultimate mystery: “What is this thing?”
Whether it’s figuring out if the weird contraption buried in someone’s backyard is an old septic tank or if that strange object in their takeout is a microchip (yikes), someone out there always knows. No matter how bizarre the find, the internet delivers answers.
Personally, the coolest “what is this thing” I’ve ever discovered was an onion ring hiding in my fries—and trust me, I didn’t need any help identifying that.
1. “These concrete things on the sidewalks attached to a small wall. This is in Toronto. Solved”
Solved by r/Tanja_Christine:
A Tiny Skate Park?
r/HammyOfficial added:
Definitely a diy skate spot. A really well done one too. you can even see the wax on the ledge between the ramps
2. “Two men carrying shoulder mounted devices which are grey in colour, have 4 black circles and a black square panel. Each person has the device strapped around their waist. They appear to be some sort of scanning or detection equipment. What are they?”
Solved by r/KittyCoal:
I think they’re iWalkers/AdWalkers from this company ( https://gomodigital.co.uk/iwalker ), which does operate in Wales.
Even the black clothing seems to be part of their standard look.
3. “Metal shards inside the shower head of the place I’m renting? What are these and why are they in there?”
Solved by r/DabblrDubs:
Surely they are solder from copper plumbing. If you overheat the pipes while soldering, long strands like this can form on the inside. Definitely a sign of improper soldering, if that’s what they are.
4. “My many-years-old rain jacket has a smooth, somewhat flexible, seemingly plastic object sewn into the upper arm of the right sleeve only. What is it?”
Solved by r/BooleansearchXORdie:
Radar reflector for avalanche rescue purposes
5. “What is this thing? I bought this in a German flea market. It’s quite heavy for its size and once the lid is screwed on you can’t fit anything in it because of the black rod on the lid.”
Solved by r/Embarrassed-Rate9732:
Radiation safety officer here, this REALLY looks like a lead PIG used to shield a radiation source housed inside the black rod part. PIGs usually come with higher activity sources although they are occasionally with check sources. I highly recommend going down to your city’s fire department and seeing if they can scan this for you (smaller departments may not be able to do this but larger departments absolutely would have a hazmat unit that would have equipment that could) just to confirm the presence of radiation or not. If it is radioactive it might not be legal for you to own depending on the radioisotope, activity, and laws/regulations in Germany/EU
OP shared a MAJOR update:
Update: I called the non emergency fire brigade number this morning and less than 2 minutes later 6 fire engines, 3 ambulances, 3 police cars and a bomb disposal unit arrive. They evacuated all the flats in the building for four hours until they finally took it away. It turned out to be Thorium.
6. “Small metal fence that is always put up after the guy parks his car.”
Solved by r/goat_cheesus:
If I had to guess this is someone’s attempt at making their car less appealing to catalytic converter thieves.
7. “Small glass vial filled with BBs and flat green circular things. Given to a drug addicted person by somebody in a trap house. She was told it was explosive”
Solved by r/gus_thedog:
Looks like some tweaker took apart a shotgun shell. That’s gunpowder and shot in there.
r/OkAbbreviations1749 added:
You’re mostly right, it isn’t gunpowder though, it is smokeless propellant/powder, very different chemical.
8. “A couple weeks ago this small, round, metal object appeared, embedded within my front porch”
Solved by r/jackrats:
It is a bullet. You can see the rifling marks along the sides.
Full metal jacket – lead core with a copper alloy jacket.
r/Old_Data_843 added:
9mm slug, people like to shoot into the air for some reason they seem to forget what goes up comes back down.
People have actually died from this. Wild
9. “A weird, rusty trailer with a round re-bar cage in the storage lot of a rural campground”
Solved by r/rynoxmj:
I know exactly where that is, what it is, and who made it.
This trailer was sort of what many alluded to. It’s a Burning Man inspired trailer that a friend of mine made to tow around as a mobile sound stage one year at the Connect electronic music festival at Besant campground in Saskatchewan.
The dome was covered in fabric and had a generator and a small sound rig in it, a DJ setup, and seating for people to take rides.
Crazy that I saw this scrolling through reddit on my couch 20 minutes away.
10. “What is this? I found it on my wall this morning. Looks pinkish, a bit like foam and it’s around 8cm long”
Solved by r/obviousdscretion:
It’s sh*t. Reptile or amphibian. I’ve worked in animal care for a long time.
r/jesslynn9293 added:
That was my first thought. It looks like reptile urates to me. Except the bottom parts look very weird so I wasn’t 100%
11. “Solid glass rod with rounded ends found in the woods. What the heck is this?”
Solved by r/duckduckholoduck:
It looks like a rolling pin for polymer clay. If you google “polymer clay rolling pin” you’ll get results that look really similar. Could also be used for rolling fondant, though I think those rolling pins aren’t usually glass. But why it’s in the woods is anyone’s guess.
12. “Small plastic spoons with brown substance, individually packaged and found in a public park exposed to the elements”
Solved by r/ape_on_lucy:
Tamarind spoon. You have Hispanics in the neighborhood would be my guess. Hit up a liquor store and get a fresh pack and try them out!
13. “Corroded, half-buried, iron, circular object found in the woods approximately 12-14 inches across”
Solved by OP:
So the property owner ended up calling the sheriff, who came out to look. They sent some pictures to the bomb squad and we waited until they were able to come out to the property.
We were told to evacuate the area while they were there. They investigated and took X-rays to determine it wasn’t a mine or any other UXO. They excavated it completely and told us it was an antique brake drum. Thanks for all the interest and messages.
14. “Found a several glass tubes filled with some brown gas in a school science lab.”
Solved by r/stupre1972:
VERY carefully put them down.
Most likely is that these contain Bromine – it’s not the worst thing in the world, but you sure as hell don’t want a lung full of it if you break the glass tube.
15. “Small brass threaded capsule found in 14 year old’s laundry.”
Solved by r/Z5D5B5:
Looks like the part that holds the ashes in a necklace.
r/tanner5586 added:
Could hold ashes, geocaching notes, small pills, or any other item you want to keep contained and dry. Looks like something I’d pick up as a kid and throw in my pocket then forget about.
16. “Small tub next to big tub no drain”
Solved by r/Fyrefrog25:
I’m thinking it is/was a spot for an artificial plant. The rest of the aesthetic seems just right for the time when designers thought that was a good idea.
r/LurkyYou added:
It is exactly for this. My parents have the same thing in their master bath and it’s a place for plants. Or that’s how they use it!
17. “What is this chimney looking thing on this police interceptor SUV?”
Solved by r/Wsz2020:
Probably an air intake for NBC sensor(s) — nuclear biological chemical.
“It has already been selected by several military forces and equips several NBC reconnaissance vehicles, as it is unsensitive to diesel vapors and smokes.”
That single chimney may feed multiple sensors.
18. “What did I find? Found underneath a bathroom vanity during remodeling. They are small about 2 inches long. Little glass tubes filled with liquid.”
Solved by r/supersonic3974″
Looks like antique perfume ampules. Also called perfume nips
19. “What is this thing? Found in a creek bed that I explored yesterday. It is 17.8 pounds and 5 inches in diameter. It was found in Kentucky.”
Solved by r/zgrizz:
Likely an old cannonball.
r/rrherbiedragons added:
Cool find. It’s called 18 pound round shot and was used on US, French, and British ships, so it came from a ship near there. It’s solid iron.
It’s round shot that can only be used in smooth bore cannons, so it could be Civil War or could be revolutionary war. Look into if there were any battles near there and you can find more provenance.
20. “Block on Hinge in the floor of Old Home. Sits below floor. Inside there’s rollers. There’s another opposite a wall from it. Solved!”
Solved by OP’s brother:
My brother in law came over and managed to figure it out immediately. He fixed it so that the rollers touched each other, and by closing the hinge it made a pedal you can press that then opens the pocket door between the kitchen and the dinning room. So I guess it’s if you have full hands, you could open the door to the kitchen because in old time people were ashamed of their kitchen and didn’t let guests see it?
I have video but i don’t know how to share it.
Turns out better photos may have helped. The chain was the key.
21. “Pottery found at the thrift store. Artist doesn’t have social media. It has metal hooks inside.”
Solved by r/GitEmSteveDave”
Something to dip their brushes into and then squeeze out the excess water between the wires?
r/sadbutt69 added:
It’s for this!! I phoned the shop that sells her work and asked because I am insane lol.
OP added:
I like this idea and I do paint so I’ll probably use it for this if I don’t figure out what it actually is.
22. “Round, black electronic device on the wall in my Spanish airbnb. The ball in the centre moves around a bit.”
Solved by r/xXxOzZyxXx:
I think that is a smart IR device, Maybe it can be for controling IR devices when someone is not in the home, like Air conditioner TV or etc.
OP added:
I asked the Airbnb host and they said it’s a temperature sensor for the air conditioning.
23. “Two red and blue ‘patches’ titled ‘came the yawn’ and ‘one eye closed here'”
Solved by r/Different-Cover2812:
Bookmarks! Put them over the corner of the page, words facing the page you’re on, to mark your spot! 🙂
24. “WITT on the ceiling of a Target. Plastic, mostly white, and about the size of a breadbox.”
Solved by r/goxilo:
This is an Enterprise Asset Visibility (EAI) offering that provides greater visibility into retail operations and delivers business insights. This innovation combines UHF RFID, video and microlocation capabilities to identify and track merchandise, employees and shoppers in a store in real time. The tool analyzes all the data obtained and provides useful information to achieve optimal stock levels, identify misplaced merchandise or assets, detect theft and improve promotions and product placement.
25. “Punctured my tire while driving on a residential road. Feels slightly heavy for it’s size. About three inches long.”
Solved by r/jackrats:
Stupid spiky lug nut tip,
like this .
r/BigDickedRichard added:
Looks like one of those stupid overly long pointed lug nut covers I see on pavement princess trucks.
Those things should be illegal for this exact reason. Imagine if you were doing highway speeds and hit that.
26. “Golden Coloured Opaque Glass object about 25cm tall. Weights about 40g. Hollow with no holes.”
Solved by r/jackrats:
It’s a decor item.
r/ProfessorofChelm added context:
I second this. And it looks to be blown glass. The lower bulb doesn’t seem to be a uniform sphere. Pretty cool little piece of art. If you don’t mind would you send us a picture of where the top shape connects to the body? Might also benefit you to post on a glass blowing subreddit.
27. “Found this cage thing behind my house where crews were cleaning up for a bike trail. It’s about three feet tall, and it opens up”
Solved by r/ohcanadarulessorry:
It’s a bail feeder. To feed horses. The bail is put in there so it stays together and doesn’t fall apart.
28. “Raised circles that just showed up on my wall within the past day.”
Solved!
r/nitro479:
Sheetrock nails that are working out. Wall has flexed causing the nail heads to pop out.
29. “Broken metal spoon, with rat/mouse drinking from it”
Solved!
r/leanhsi:
From the size of the bowl, possibly a snuff spoon
r/Snarky30 added:
Looks like it’s sold as a wealth amulet
30. “What is this little bag with white Fluffy balls inside? Found in my driveway, someone dropped it while trespassing”
Solved!
r/Objective_Truck_379:
Almost looks like a bag of cotton balls for shooting up, but the cotton balls are kinda large here
r/LowerDescription5759 added:
Seems like a drug related thing to me. I believe this is used for filtration of IV drugs.
31. “Rubber looking cones attached to front bumper of car, held on individually by a chain and some type of rubber hose.”
Solved!
r/smythbdb:
I’ll 2nd gas sniffers. If there’s a leak in the street they find it while driving around.
r/azhillbilly added:
See the tube attached? There’s a vacuum system leading to a mass spectrometer that trigger when it sees the right wavelength of hydrocarbons.
There’s handheld versions for testing gas pipe fittings, also Freon testers for AC.
32. “Small, soft bag with an attached velcro strap, received in a cancer/chemo care kit. No scent and not filled with rice.”
Solved!
r/ioncewasAndi:
It’s a cushion for your seatbelt. So that the shoulder strap will not hurt your port
33. “Round white item found diving in the sea, the material is hard, about 3 cm in radius, FB Minden written on it and a number”
Solved!
r/ParaspriteHugger:
FB Minden might stand for “Feuerbestattung” Minden – Minden crematory. I think you stumbled over a chamotte marker from a crematory that was used to track the identity of a body as it turned to ashes and was buried at sea.
34. “What is this Oddly Shaped Sink used for?”
Solved!
r/TotalJ**off:
Prep Sink: coppersinksonlin.com
r/alejo699 added:
“The Curved copper prep sink by SoLuna has a truly unique curved shape that will make all of your food prep duties a breeze!”
The “how” and the “why” are conspicuously absent.