There are a lot of weird things in the world, and it's impossible for any of us to identify every random rock, sign, or item we come across.
That's where the internet comes in. It always amazes me how quickly the answer can be found with a simple pic and a question in the right subreddit.
Turns out that it's both a cell tower and a flagpole. Many places are beginning to find clever ways to disguise the tech we need to keep our smartphones going. Flagpoles are a common way, but I've even seen towers disguised as trees.
It's an adjustable spine, allowing updates and new sections to be added and removed as needed.
Commenters even managed to find the original owner on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial page.
Reddit | aurum_27 It's huge, but most commenters are pretty sure it's from an equine of some sort. That's got to be one big horse!
Other ideas of its source included bison, cow, or caribou.
I know they're to prevent someone accidentally hitting infrastructure, but it's the code I wonder about.
Apparently, in North America, orange means that there are communications lines under there. Yellow would mean gas lines.
It's silicon carbide, which is extremely rare in nature but easily manufactured. It's a big part of our modern life. Its uses include cutting tools, LEDs, astronomy, jewelry, and even nuclear fuel.
Reddit | spiderlanewales Though they were photographed upside down, they were still quickly identified as being WWII-era military patches.
The bottom one is for the 8th Air Force and the top is the U.S. Army Air Forces.
But, it's actually a version featuring Mater from Cars, _w_hich is a pretty funny mashup.
It's a small oil lamp. The wick is long gone, but I bet it still smells strongly of the oil used to light it back in the day.
I'm assuming it was a shared dryer, because that friend would probably remember buying a "male enhancement" pill at the convenience store. That's what's usually sold in these little bottles.
It's a "cross pattée" symbol, most commonly recognized for its association with the Knights Templar. But it's also a common symbol adopted by firefighters in the U.S.
In this case, the signs mark the locations of fire hydrants.
They are vintage pachinko balls, used in the popular Japanese game of chance and famous in the U.S. for the similar Price is Right game.
They are the spines of sea urchins, so I wouldn't want to step on them.
Contrary to myth, peeing on a sting does nothing, but soaking a stung limb in vinegar will dissolve the spines.
They ate candy similar to Pixy Stix. The outside is plastic, and you are meant to press your teeth down on it to pull the candy out.
They may look like giant pie charts, but they're actually just fields of crops planted for circle irrigation. A system of rotating sprinklers sits in the center of the field, watering everything evenly.
I knew this one! It's a dip pen fitted with a (mangled) calligraphy nib. The nib is toast but can be easily removed and replaced with a new one.
Koh-I-Noor is an art and writing supply manufacturer established in the 1800s.
This particular one is by Here, a navigation company. The device is a GPS and LIDAR system for 3D mapping of streets.
It's a golf tee. I don't think I've ever seen one like this before. It's probably much easier to balance the ball atop of compared to the small heads of the tees I used growing up.
This weird device is actually a pocket ear trumpet. While it wouldn't have worked nearly as well as modern hearing augmentation, it's cool in a totally steampunk sort of way.
This is actually pretty cool. It's a subtle way for the hotel to indicate to Muslim visitors which way they should face during prayers.
Like the little metal things sometimes found behind toilets. They're master valve covers. When needed, you can use the hidden valve to shut down the water supply to the toilet.
I'd have burned the house down before thinking of creating a Reddit account just to ask about these egg things.
He did the right thing, though, because they're just bloated chia seeds.
While some people thought they might be Dango, they're more likely to be warabimochi, which is similar to mochi, but more jelly-like in texture. Either way, I would like all of them, please, and thanks.
It is the tooth plate of a freshwater fish, possibly a sunfish or bluegill.
It's a birthing chair. The mother would sit on it and the mirror would help the doctor or midwife see the progression of labor.
Apparently, that's because they're warning devices intended to scare off deer before they can run in front of your car.
They do this by emitting whistles at frequencies too high for the human hearing range. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be any conclusive evidence evidence that they make deer less likely to run into your vehicle.
And it didn't take long before all sorts of people in the know recognized it as a silicon wafer that would normally get broken up into a bunch of different microchips.
As for what these microchips are supposed to do, it seems that it's hard to know that without looking at them under a microscope.
While it's easy to see why this would make for a puzzling discovery, it was apparently just as easy for someone else to identify this as a self-closing door hinge.
The only remaining question concerns why it was buried in the ground.
However, it turns out that it's not actually used for cooking, but rather for gardening. It's apparently known as a dibbler or a dibble stick and it's used for planting bulbs.
Reddit | Fastraph For instance, the uploader wondered why their car had this little unit built into it, but learned that if a car has two of them in the back seat, then it's supposed to hold a cargo net.
If the trunk is full and you're worried that stuff in the back will fly forward at you, a cargo net is apparently your best bet.
However, it starts to make a little more sense when we learn that this is an antique firefighting device. Apparently, the spring is designed to trip when fire affects part of the mousetrap device so the hammer breaks the glass.
At which point, firefighting chemicals are released from the jar. They're also apparently quite noxious so it's a good idea to contact a fire department for disposal if you find one.
Apparently, it's supposed to be an overly fancy bookmark that would feature some kind of charm or ribbon hanging from that latch at the top.
These tools are usually supposed to be flatter than this, but it's otherwise built like similar vintage bookmark designs.
This piece is known as a static strip or a grounding strap and it's supposed to reduce the static shock someone might get after gripping the door handle.
Considering that this effect is apparently at its worst on cold, dry days, it makes sense to see it so often in the chillier parts of the region.
After all, it's pretty hard to imagine what the beauty applications could be for the throttle on an electric bike.
I'll admit I'm no expert on makeup trends, but anything that involves such a weird tool would've attracted some buzz by noe.
Apparently, this is what coralline algae looks like after it dies and the reason it shows up so frequently is that it can usually end up as bycatch when shrimp trawlers scrape the seabed.
