15 Times Someone Found Something They Couldn't Identify, And The Internet Came To The Rescue
We've all found something weird on the ground, in our house, or out in the world and had absolutely no idea what it was. Maybe you thought to yourself, "Somebody has to know what this thing is, right?" Well, they definitely do. On the subreddit r/whatisthisthing, strangers seem to be able to identify just about anything you can imagine. Here are 15 interesting things folks found recently and what they turned out to be.
1.This rusty-looking gravestone-shaped thing someone dug up in their backyard:
This is a coal chute cover. In the days when people used coal to heat their homes, this door would've covered a street-level opening into the basement, where the base of the heating system would have been.
2.A ceramic napkin-shaped object hanging from a hook on the ceiling in a cabin in Maine:
Even though it's bright underneath, it isn't a light fixture — it's called a smoke bell, and it's designed to catch soot from a kerosene lamp sitting beneath it.
3.These little rubber cones dangling off the front of a van:
They're gas sniffers, used to detect natural gas leaks as the van drives around.
4.This funky little brass item with a hollow end.
This is a boatswain's call — it's used on boats and makes a high-pitched whistle sound that sailors can hear over the sound of the ocean.
5.A metal panel with two white cylinders attached under someone's staircase bannister:
These are the remnants of an old electric doorbell/buzzer that's no longer wired in to the house.
6.This large cast-iron artifact that was found in a creek bed in Missouri:
This was identified as part of an old wooden wagon. It's called a cast skein, which is a piece that fits over the end of a wagon axle, creating a smooth surface for the wagon wheel to rest on and roll.
7.This funky little piece someone found in a Czech military surplus bag.
That little orange cube in the case is actually anti-fog soap used for a gas mask, likely around World War II. This bag would have been issued containing the mask and all its accoutrements.
8.This spikey ball someone dredged up from the bottom of a lake in northern Michigan while they were fishing:
It's an artificial structure/habitat for fish! After being informed, the person who pulled it up said they planned to return it to the area where they found it.
9.This heavy brass circle with removable numbered plugs that was a family heirloom in the Isle of Man:
They turned out to be a set of brass weights used to balance scales from 1900s England.
10.This random toolset somebody found underneath their sink:
This is a millinery toolset used for fashioning artificial flowers.
11.This ominous capsule someone stepped on while walking around at the beach:
It's an LED buoy used to help you locate your fishing lure at night.
12.This funky little tool someone found underneath a pile of clothes they'd recently purchased:
It's actually a leather punch tool used to punch extra holes in belts. Apparently, they are often shipped alongside the belts so the buyer can size them themselves.
13.This light-up box with an interesting pattern of shapes that was available at an estate sale:
This is a clock! It's a "TIME SQUARE" ChronoArt clock from the 80s, to be exact. One user also explained how to read it: the 12 squares in the top left represent the 11 hours of the day (12 being blank), the 9 squares on the top right show the minute (0 being blank), and the 5 on the bottom right show 10 minutes (0 being blank), making the time displayed here 4:51.
14.This metal gizmo on a table that sits between two couch cushions:
It's actually a tiny handle, and when pushed, the person was able to open it and reveal an open area underneath for storage!
15.And finally, this gold, round disk featuring a bunch of city names that was left behind in an empty office:
This is a time zone translator — you set your time zone and then can easily see what the time is in other cities worldwide.
Personally, I've never seen any of these items before. So I have to ask: Would you have known what these things were if you had seen them out in the wild? And have you ever found something you couldn't identify that someone recognized right away? Let us know in the comments!
