“What Is This Thing?” — 25 Times People Asked The Internet To Identify Mysterious Objects This Week

1. “Large Hiking boot on a plaque with a ‘roof’ over it hanging from a tree. Found on a hiking trail in Upstate NY.”

Solved By: u/Few_Vegetable_9939

Apparently recycling old boots as birdhouses is a thing now. It might work well though idk

u/OnlyRow7629 Added:

Most boots have insulation, are waterproof and made of leather. They’re gonna be set for the winter

u/hogear0 Added:

I hung some boots under my porch roof to dry after a fishing trip. Blue birds moved in. I left them there and just bought another pair. They returned every year for 5 years. Lots of eggs hatched in them boots. Arkansas for reference.

2. “Heavy glass with attached toothed rim”

“Holds 8oz/240ml up to the teeth. Teeth are part of the glass and do not come out.

There is a faint mark on the bottom, I deciphered it the best I could.

Rather thick heavy glass with a few air bubbles”

Solved By: u/lexijoy

It’s meant to keep ice from touching your teeth.

3. “Found in craft/sewing supply stash: white semi-flexible spiral spring with small gray ball stuck in one end and two circles on the other (yes, I know what it looks like, lol)”

“We got this in a bag of hand-me-down craft supplies from an old lady at church, and I’ve wondered for years what the heck it is, lol.

What is this thing??”

Solved By: u/Rogetsthesaurus-Rex

Could it be for strengthening ones’ grip? Put two fingers through the loops on the bottom, the grey ball on the palm of your hand, and squeeze it?

u/abitbuzzed Added:

Likely solved! There is probably just enough resistance in the spring for this, and someone else found a picture of one being sold as a grip trainer on eBay. Thank you!!

4. “What is this three legged stool with a ‘handle’ that has a hole in it?”

Solved By: u/Artneedsmorefloof

Milking stool — likely a replica. They come in different styles, but the handle is to make it easier to pick up and move from cow to cow.

gc1 Added:

…while carrying the bucket in the other hand. I was wondering if you could hang the bucket from the handle too, while milking, so it’s not sitting in the mud and manure.

Artneedsmorefloof Added:

Not while milking — the handle would be far too short for that, and the bucket usually too big. Plus, you typically move your cow(s) to a clean stall for milking, so there shouldn’t be any manure there. Most farmers have a separate concrete stall set up for milking where it can be easily sanitized.

When milking, you definitely want to minimize how many of your body parts are between the cow’s legs, in case she decides to kick — so you wouldn’t be directly under the cow.

Machine-milking cows is a lot easier on the back and arms. Oh, and the milking stool works for goats too.

5. “Metal thing found inside garage. It has a hand crank that rotates and a screw at the center.”

Solved By: u/SCR_RAC

Hand cleaner used to be available in big cans that would fit in that contraption. Pull the handle and you would get a big gob of hand cleaner.

They were popular in industrial settings. Go-Jo was one of the makers of the hand cleaner.

6. “These are the size of pecans, light, hollow, and rattle. An older friend brought me a whole bucket, but she couldn’t remember what they were. Organic material for sure.”

“A biologist friend brought me a bucket of shells, fossils, and coral. She’s getting on in years and couldn’t remember what they were. I have hundreds. We’ve been calling them xenomorth toenails.”

Solved By: u/beam__me__up

Water chestnut seeds, incredibly invasive in the US. They were likely collected as part of an effort to remove them from waterways

7. “I found a bag of these in my front yard. Clear plastic with some copper and grease inside. Very light.”

“I thought maybe wiper blade attachment but after looking closer I don’t think they are that. What could they be?”

Solved By: u/madsci

Looks like a tap splice, if there’s one hole that goes all the way through and another that goes partway through. You clamp it on to an existing wire to tap off with another wire.

8. “Did my dog pick up animal poison? Small soft brown cube, black text on top, with cloudy gel interior”

“Was walking my dog around the block, and on the exterior of my neighbors yard, my dog snuffled through the leaves and happily picked up this cube.

I fought with him for a few seconds over it, he really didn’t want to give it up, but he eventually did. I took it out and it smells sort of dog-food-esque.

It’s a brown cube, about 1 inch tall, two inches wide, two inches long with some illegible black text on the exterior and a cloudy gel-like interior, with what looks like a silica packet lodged inside.

I asked my neighbor if they knew what it was and they said that they’ve never seen it before. Is it poison? Are a couple of seconds of exposure in his mouth without really getting at the interior dangerous?”

Solved By: u/haltiamreptaar

It’s an oral rabies vaccine for wildlife.

u/iwasabadger Added:

The reason your neighbor may not have known about it is because they airdrop these from a helicopter or small plane. It’s not usually done this way in residential areas, and may have been left by animal control or another agency- or another critter liked the smell as much as your dog and brought it over for your neighbors.
It’s an oral rabies vaccine for wildlife:

9. “Small metal dome things on exterior windowsills”

“There are several of these sitting on the stone windowsills on the exterior of my house. They look like stone but are quite heavy and cold like metal, but they aren’t magnetic. My partner thinks they’re made of lead. Done-shaped on one side, totally flat on the bottom. There’s no opening or recess on the bottom, so they’re not made to hold anything like a spare key”

Solved By: u/ColdUpbeat3541

It’s lead. I use them for plumbing to pour cast iron closet rings. They melted it in a ladle that you use to pour the lead into the cast iron joints, called lead and oakum.

u/skarlatha Added:

Solved! I think this is it! I went and looked at some of the others and a couple have the marks from the spout of the ladle.

They’re also on the windowsills right outside the rooms that would have plumbing. The owner built the house himself so I bet he just kept the lead pieces and thought they were cool.

Thank you!

10. “This oddly shaped brown leather bag…slightly too small to hold a bottle of wine. Found in a midwest thrift store”

Solved By: u/EvaTheE

I have a similar bag, it came with a thermos I got as a gift.

EntertainmentLeft224 Added:

This is the only valid and logical answer. If you want to ask how I know it’s because I have like 40 of these.

11. “Ozone/vapor device found on the street”

“I found this in the Flatiron District of Manhattan, discarded on the curb.

It seemed broken and was probably missing several parts that could have given helpful clues.

Is it dangerous? I touched.”

Solved By: u/IfwIIbk

That looks like something I used to use when I was an Esthetician. It’s whole purpose was to put “steam” water vapor in people’s faces for moisturizing while they were getting a facial treatment.

12. “What is this round thing on the wall of old apartment?”

Solved By: u/ZweitenMal

A stove vent was once there.

u/Slight_Loquat_4956 Added:

So interesting since this is my bedroom — but I guess rooms probably change a lot over time!

u/The_Dingman Added:

At a certain point in time, any room that needed to stay warm in winter needed a stove or fireplace. This was probably a small wood-burning stove for heat.

u/Slight_Loquat_4956 Replied:

Totally wow. Do you know what decade something like this would have been used or installed?

u/The_Dingman Replied:

Probably sometime between 1850 and 1950. If I had to guess more specifically, maybe 1920–1940.

13. “Red plastic item with turnable numbered wheels and metal clips”

Solved By: u/dvdmaven

Looks like a mileage reminder for oil changes, etc. The clips on the back appear to be large enough to hold it on a visor.

u/stormes44 Added:

This. Older cars had odometers, but not separate trip odometers like they do today. I use my ‘A’ trip odometer to track gas mileage, and my ‘B’ trip odometer to record oil change miles.

14. “Small, curved, porcelain-like object with hook. Found in an estate.”

Solved By: u/Rotidder007

I think it’s an old-timey crochet tension ring. It would sit on the top of your upper index finger with the hook opening toward your hand. You’d feed the yarn up between your index and middle fingers, through the hook and around your finger to secure the ring, then back through the hook and down your index finger to what you’re crocheting. It acts as a yarn guide and helps maintain consistent friction and tension without causing finger burn.

Edit: It looks like there’s even a tiny lip in the hook opening that would keep the yarn you wrap around your finger in place.

BlueMonkTrane Added:

My first thought was that this was some kind of prosthesis or something made to fit on a body part — I just couldn’t figure out where or why.

So do you fasten the thing to your finger, or is friction and tension from the yarn enough to keep it in place?

Like, it’s a thimble, but nothing seems to keep it on your finger or thumb. How can you grab a line and pull it without it falling off?

Rotidder007 Replied:

You’d wrap the yarn through the hook and completely around your finger, then feed the yarn through the hook again, making a complete ring. That piece is probably not very heavy, especially if it’s porcelain. One side would naturally get squeezed between your middle and index fingers as they grip the yarn coming up from the skein, and the tension of the yarn would also help keep it in place.

15. “Small clear plastic piece with ‘D D’ on it. Was found in the bathroom in an office. No other markings. About the size of a quarter.”

“Anybody have any idea what this could be?”

Solved By: u/FuzzyNavalTurnover

It’s the top of a plastic vial of duoneb for a nebulizer.

Example

16. “What is this round ball like thing? Outer Case is transparent and there is a inner ball which rotates freely.”

Solved By: u/gniroboos

It’s a wrist training ball.

SundayClarity Added:

Commonly known as a Powerball where I live! It’s a pretty cool device, though it takes some practice to learn how to start and keep it going. You can check if it’s a self-starting variant by looking for an arrow somewhere along the groove of the inner ball.

If there is one, you can wind it up in that direction for about 1–1.5 turns (you’ll feel the resistance of a spring), let go, and try to keep it going by fixing your wrist and drawing small circles with it.

If it’s a simple model, you’ll need a string to start it or learn how to start it by flicking your thumb along the inner ball.

u/softwares4u Added:

Yes, it has arrows, so I can turn it using the spring. Thanks for that information! It looks pretty cool in videos. I’m trying to spin it now — looks like it might take me some time to learn the technique.

17. “One of a series of black tubes, often found in pairs, along a roadway in northern Michigan.”

“My guess is that they are someone related to some utility work, but I can’t figure out why they would be coming out of the ground at intervals.”

Solved By: u/stinkySlinky_

Definitely running utilities underground. They will come back and run cable through the pipe.

u/EmploymentEmpty5871 Added:

Conduant for running wires, fiber optics that was done with horizontal boring. Usually under roads, driveways.

They put them in first, long straight runs, no obstructions they can plow them in, then weld them together and bury them.

18. “What are these 2 things? One is a flat beige patch/band aid looking thing in a foil pack. The other is a grey, oval plastic thing with a white spot on the top and open, sort of, on the bottom. Found in the bag shown in the photos.”

“There are 2 mystery items here. The first is some type of tan patch or stick on thing and the second is some kind of grey, oval, plastic thing.

These were found separately in different bins. I am going thru a lifetime’s worth of stuff and so far these are the two things I cannot identify.

The grey oval plastic things were with electronics. Old phones, old home wifi stuff, etc. The bag they were in was open like there had been more and some got used. No idea for what!!!

The patch things were with a hodgepodge of stuff so no idea. Haven’t opened one, in case it’s some type of medicinal patch although I feel like it would be better marked if it was something like that. There is a Lot Number on the back of the package.

Sorry about the measuring tape and ruler – I did not have a banana.”

Item 1 Solved By: u/HippyDiva74

The first items look like transdermal patches. Maybe nicotine?

Item 2 Solved By: u/Momoshabazz

The oval things look like spacers for a toilet seat for when you install a bidet attachment.

19. “What is this U-shaped thing next to the light switch?”

“I found this at my friend’s dorm at university.”

Solved By: u/givag327

It’s a broken holder for a fan remote.

20. “Wide black object mounted through windows in a new tower.”

Solved By: u/nochinzilch

It looks like it has to do with ventilation.

u/factorioleum Added:

Yes, maybe humidity? The windows are double-paned and very tight, if that helps.

And we were right! See the people who correctly answered “trickle vent.” The other guess we had was that it had to do with cleaning, but that didn’t make as much sense, since they’re kind of randomly on one window in each room. For ventilation though, one window per room makes perfect sense.

21. “Grid hinged thing with ratchet straps? About a foot tall, black and metal”

“We found this thing and aren’t quite sure what it is or how the pieces come together, or if this is even all the pieces. Any help appreciated”

Solved By: u/EconomistDapper2909

It’s a cargo area cage for keeping a dog in the cargo area of a suv or crossover.

u/Icebreaker1979 Added:

Looks like a barrier for a car. Similar https://a.co/d/2SEZ4hu .

22. “White/tan nob with hole in it in front of sink”

“Remodeling house, we have no idea what this would be for. Anyone know?”

Solved:

Did the hole used to have a ring in it? Maybe a towel holder?

u/Anxious_Newspaper_58 Added:

Towel ring is making a lot of sense to us now that you say it! Solved!

23. “Small, mostly metal cylindrical object with cloudy core.”

What is this bullet-looking thing my sister found out in the desert?

Solved By: u/Curse-Bot

Rifled slug outside is lead

u/buttmagnuson Added:

I second the notion of it being a shotgun slug.

24. “What are these small, transparent, plastic pieces?”

“Found it together with some IKEA Patrull corner protectors, but I don’t think that has anything to do with these?”

Solved By: u/cyclejones

These are the feet for plastic storage drawers. I’m trying to remember the specific brand or model, but I’m sure this is what they are.

Found it: They are the feet to the IKEA KUPOL drawers which appear to have been discontinued.

25. “6.75” White plastic over door hooks. Found with laundry basket.”

Are these normal door hooks, just with a tiny hook for hanging items? Or do they have a different purpose than hanging sweaters/towels/jackets?

Solved By: u/phunniemee

They’re meant to hang some kind of wire form storage, like a shoe rack or pockets or similar.