What do you do if you find something you can’t identify ? Personally, I’d shrug and then throw it in the junk drawer where it would live forever.
The better option, though, is to snap a pic and post it over on the r/whatisthisthing subreddit. Given the impressive track record of that community, chances are good it’ll be identified.
“Recently bought a house and found this cord in a box of important documents. Not sure what it’s used for and if it’s important to keep.”
Thermometers are standard issue kitchen equipment, and this is just one example. It’s a temperature probe that can be left inside something that’s cooking in the oven.
“Exactly 2″ Long. Appears copper plated on the body and that is worn away in a few places. Body seems solid. Both tips are hollow as far as the bend in the paperclip leading me to believe they are threaded and screwed on. Can’t undo them by hand.”
If you’re a DIY fisherman, you might have one of these lying around. It’s known as a half hitch, and it can be used to tie flies for fly fishing.
“Small grand piano-shaped box with brass flip-out insert.”
This one’s a bit tricky because it’s missing its main component. It’s a small clock, only it’s missing the clock part. See for yourself .
“A small string with two hard tan parts on either end, both tan parts have red spots. Found at a college in AZ. It’s fairly small and it’s the second one I’ve found.”
If you’ve ever dealt with fake flowers, this might look vaguely familiar. That’s because it’s a stamen from a fake flower.
“Large metal box. No sign of keyholes, locks, doors, or even mounting points. A small hole in the top reveals a circuit board inside. The hole is significantly bent and warped despite the metal being abnormally thick.”
This is what a hotel safe looks like when it’s no longer in a hotel. It was probably dumped here after someone couldn’t break into it.
“Some kind of machine that was made made either pre or post American Revolution. Found it at a local historic site.”
Putting aside that ‘either pre- or post-American Revolution’ means this could come from almost any point in history, the answer is simple: it’s an apple press. It’s used to make cider.
“What is this half buried metal object on the beach?”
This massive metal device appears to be an old steam boiler . As for how it wound up on the beach? That’s anyone’s guess.
“I received this in the mail from Amazon as part of a brushing scam. The black ends are rubber, and the points on the black parts have wires inside them. The empty sauce packet came with the red handles. I’m wondering what the 3 objects are. They all came in a single package.”
Here’s a new one. These little widgets are specifically for clipping little packets of dipping sauce to the vents in your car. Seriously .
“Wood object 3 inches long with screw in middle.”
You know how pool cues come in two pieces that screw together? This is a thread protector, and it’s designed to keep the thread on one of those two screw-in pieces from getting stripped down.
“There were some weird blue/teal particles in my McDonald’s double quarter pounder, what was it?”
McDonald’s employees might get this one. It isn’t mold, but it’s still kind of gross. The blue particles are likely from a glove the employee was wearing while handling the food.
“Found in the door of a 2022 Mustang that was delivered straight from the factory to us. Wrapped in butyl and stuck to the inner door. No markings on it. One wire sticking out of it with heat shrink on the end of it.”
This is a small tracking device, more specifically a Tag Tracker . Mystery solved!
“Weird hollow lens shaped things stuck together with no pattern. Found on a beach on the west coast of Scottish Highlands.”
This looks organic, as opposed to something manmade. Turns out it’s a cluster of whelk eggs. In case you didn’t know, whelks are sea snails.
“Weird concrete slab thing in the garden of my new home.”
This was a bit of a mystery, as it looks like a septic tank lid but OP isn’t on a septic system. A little Googling revealed that the property was once on septic, which means that this is indeed a septic tank lid.
“Very reflective disks with circuitry-looking squares on some of them. Some have numbers scratched in or printed, but no Googling worked!”
These things are known as wafers, but they’re not the edible kind. Electronic wafers like this can be used in, well, electronics.
“I keep finding these small little packets of white powder on my balcony.”
These are nicotine pouches, sometimes known as snus. It’s kind of gross, really, as someone was clearly spitting them out from another balcony.
“Thing stickied to corner of hand me over desk, that’s been handed over several times, 4 holes in top about 3 mm in diameter, transparent/clear, sticky is gel like substance on bottom attaching it to the desk. Has three lobes. No one has removed this thing cause it’s so intriguing apparently.”
You would assume there was some kind of office application for this since it’s on a desk, but no. It’s a balloon holder and can hold the stems of four balloons.
“Found on the beach, it’s solid and the green casing feels like stone but is almost a little stretchy when I try to pull at the edges. Stays solid when heated up.”
Some of you have probably already correctly identified this. It’s a simple capacitor.
“From 1970 flooded time capsule – metal cylinder about 8 to 10 ounces.”
This cigar-shaped tube is most likely a capsule that unscrews so records can be held inside. Sometimes these contain burial records, and are placed inside a casket.
“Found washed up on the beach, very heavy and smells bad. Made of wood and has a metal base that has corroded away, hollow hole all the way through.”
This thing smells because it’s spent its life trawling over the ocean floor. It’s a roller that gets attached to the bottom of trawler nets in order to protect them as they pass over the ocean floor.
“Ukraine National Police posted an image of this strangely textured object, they call it ‘dangerous to health and even life’… but what is it?”
Turns out police weren’t kidding with their warning, as this is a full-on explosive. Known as a butterfly mine, it would have been dropped from a drone.
We want to hear from YOU so we can serve you better. Complete this quick survey and you will be entered to win a grand prize of $2,000, or a chance to win one of 10 Diply prize-packs!
