Finding mysterious treasures doesn’t happen nearly as often as it seems to in movies. No discovery of ancient maps, family heirlooms with dark pasts, or visits from mythical beings who bestow gifts.
Instead, the mysterious items we find are rather mundane, but they still leave a shocking amount of questions behind. This list compiles some of those items and the answers people got about them.
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“What is this spur on the back of my pizza slicer?”
I originally thought this was a goofy novelty add-on, but it has quite a few uses!
Most people guessed its use was primarily in a commercial pizza kitchen, either perforating dough so it doesn’t have air bubbles or for cutting breadsticks and the like enough to be ripped apart but not separate.
“What is this small structure in the woods? Filled with water and the blue things are balls that can be rolled around in place and pushed down with a lot of effort.”
A pretty fascinating gadget here, this is a device for watering livestock. Water goes in the bottom, animals lick the balls to drink it, and it’s built this way so the water doesn’t evaporate!
“Found in a molehill near a 17th Century graveyard at Kilmadock, Scotland.”
Another one where guesses varied. After lots of interesting discussion, the consensus was it’s likely a loom or net weight.
However, it could just be a rock with a naturally formed hole in it, too.
“Seen on the motorway in the UK.”
This is a good ol’ septic tank, one of the ‘onion shape’ variety which, yeah, makes sense.
“Found in a pile of scrap steel. About 1 foot across. Two handles and covered in spikes.”
Though this looks like the piece to an elaborate trap room in a horror movie, it’s just a dibble board made for poking holes in soil to plant seeds in.
“What is this men’s luxury accessory and heirloom?”
The uploader’s error in judgment here came from thinking it was just for men. This is a brooch that’s advertised as unisex!
“What is the device patterned on this tie I got from the thrift store?”
Someone was able to miraculously identify this as the leather strap suspension from a Concord Stagecoach. How? I don’t know, but I’m amazed.
“Metal tool, made of two parts connected by wing nuts. The holes have measurements on one side and are threaded inside.”
This is a flaring tool, which flairs the ends of brake and hydraulic tube lines. Well, part of a flaring tool, anyway.
It’s missing the part that actually does the flaring, this bit is for holding the tubes.
“Weird metal tube (now dented) found metal detecting in SE Iowa on a farmstead that stood from the 1890s-1960s.”
Far gone from what it used to be, this was lipstick. Specifically, lipstick by a brand called Coty from the 1940s!
“[Found] on the side of the road.”
Though it looks like a pretty vague, random metal canister of unassuming shape, someone was able to identify it as a (used) party popper with the label taken off!
“Got this shirt used. Anyone know what country it is?”
Someone did know! This outline is the country of Guatemala.
“Found two of these round pieces of plastic in my kitchen recently. They seem like they should be part of the faucet, but are too wide and nothing appears missing from the sink.”
Faucet was a pretty good guess, but it’s actually an internal piece from some styles of k-cups! The uploader must not be the coffee drinker in their household.
“Family heirloom. It’s a little bigger than an AA battery and has about the same weight. It has a tiny pin hole in the top. It also has a combination with numbers 5 to 9.”
Family heirloom mysteries are always the most interesting, as there’s a personal connection to it. This one here is a needle case, with those numbers representing needle size rather than a combination.
“What is this metal attached to my bike’s fork?”
Is it bad that my first thought was some sort of DIY’ed bottle opener attachment? It’s definitely not that, instead it’s a mount for a friction-based generator that powers a headlight.
“Found this in the machine shop/ science dump of my college has a needle in a glass container in some sort of oil and a glass pipette.”
A tiny bottle of oil for a job that wouldn’t need much, this is an oiling set for a watch or clockmaker!
“Curved shovel found in the cellar.”
Called an adze, this device is for shaping and carving wood. One commenter in particular said this would be great for carving canoes from logs.
“A dome room by someone’s dock in the Poconos?”
Pretty futuristic looking, but it’s just an outdoor sauna. Pretty fancy still, but not an escape pod or alien leisure ship.
“What is this ring my Uber driver would randomly click?”
It was guessed that this was likely used for prayer — as some prayers involve repeating a phrase a certain number of times — and this allows him to keep track while his hands are otherwise occupied with driving!
“10” high metal pointer on a swivel.”
Though it looks to be an old one, this is a surface gauge. A scriber on a stand used to mark off castings in manufacturing.
“What is this slimy, metallic-looking goo on the side of my can?”
Finding something you don’t recognize near any sort of food or drink is always unsettling. This was guessed to be lubricant, which is certainly something you don’t want in your La Croix.
