There are too many random objects in the world for any one person to be able to identify. But thanks to the magic of the internet, it’s possible to get a definitive answer.
All you have to do is take a pic and post it over at r/whatisthisthing . Honestly, just try to stump them. Odds are, they can figure out what your oddest things are.
“What is this flooring called? We’re tearing it out, but I’ve never seen anything like it and have always wondered what it is. Googling hasn’t helped. Is it even meant to be flooring?”
This is masonite board and it isn’t the kind of flooring that’s designed to be walked on. It’s generally used underneath the actual floor.
“Found this deep in my church’s storage. Looks like there’s a place for a battery, multiple lights, and even a knob that only clicks when you twist it.”
This is designed to get cash offerings in a church setting. It can incorporate a battery-powered candle and includes a slot to slide money into.
“Staying at an Airbnb and we have this little metal tray embedded in the counter top. it’s about an inch deep (banana for scale), cannot be removed, and has a drawer underneath.”
The mystery here isn’t what’s in that spot, it’s what used to be in that spot. It’s a roughed-out shape for a scale that presumably used to be part of the kitchen setup.
“A small wooden box with a sort of dial on the front which can turn but cannot turn anymore at certain points. There is one more in another pew.”
The boxes look out of place in the old church pews, don’t they? These are simply headphone jacks, so folks who are hard of hearing can listen to the sermon on a headset.
“Found scattered in garden, not buried, about 4cm long, plastic.”
If you know, you know. These are probably familiar to many readers as bottle rockets that have been discarded after setting the rockets off.
“Heavy and small. Found in Southern Germany.”
Most of the stuff on r/whatisthisthing dates back no more than a hundred years or so, but this is considerably older. It’s a pilgrim’s badge and could date back to Medieval times. It could also be a replica, but it certainly looks old.
“Art nouveau style hook made of silver.”
This is one of those tools that doesn’t have much utility in the modern world. It’s a boot button hook and dates back to a time when boots commonly had lots of tiny buttons on them.
“Slightly rusty metal plate with ‘STOP’ in cutout lettering.”
This is the rear light stop face plate from a super old Ford. It goes inside the tail light so when the tail light illuminates , the ‘STOP’ letters are visible.
“What is this thing? Small gold pig container with removable tiny spoon for a tail.”
This one isn’t particularly mysterious. It’s known as a salt cellar or a salt pig. It’s…a place to store salt that’s shaped like a pig.
“What is this massive glowing ring? It’s on the Arabian coast somewhere about 30ish minutes SE of Qatar. There seemed to be absolutely no civilization nearby”
This is most likely an illuminated race track for camel racing. Even though it appears to be in the middle of nowhere, this is fairly typical for big venues.
“This just fell out of my box of Honey Nut Cheerios. It feels like firm foam (flexes a little).”
This is a standoff pad for the vibrating part of a vertimal form fill sealer. Want that in English? It’s a pad that dampens vibration during the manufacturing process, and it somehow got into the box of cereal.
“What is this thing? A piece of furniture (machine?) found in the pictures of a home listing.”
We’re used to seeing massage chairs that look like normal recliners. Well, this is also a massage chair. It just happens to look more like something out of Star Trek than it does a regular chair.
“Circular object found in snow. Was making a loud chirping noise. Looked as if it had an LED on one side and a hole on the other side.”
This distinctive egg-shaped item makes noise, has a button and fits in the palm of your hand. If you guessed that it’s a personal safety alarm, you’d be absolutely correct.
“Is this a real cannonball? Found 2 in my yard in northeast WI. Weighs 6lb2.5oz.”
Sometimes, the poster’s guess is exactly right. While we don’t know for certain that this is a cannonball, it very likely is. OP was advised to call their local bomb disposal squad.
“What is this green thing that came out from a packet of Haribo gummy bears?”
This is a fun example of candy getting mixed in with other types of candy. That big green piece usually comes in packages of Haribo friendship rings, but it got mixed up with some gummy bears. Seems like a win to me.
“Found this in an Amazon package I received today. Unrelated to my item. Seems to be some sort of screw type motor? What uses would this have?”
This is a motor and drive shaft from something that uses a jackscrew type operation. There are lots of devices this could be a part of. One likely possibility would be in a model aircraft.
“Found in my math teacher’s room. 100 squares with varying patterns and colors. No patterns seem to be same.”
This is a prime factorization chart, which can help kids with their multiplication tables by visualizing numbers as colors. I’d tell you more, but I’m an utter failure when it comes to math.
“Found this on the sidewalk in N. Hollywood, CA after it rained. About 2.5” long. I didn’t touch it.”
You know those little sponge toys that start out small but grow into something bigger when you dunk them in water? That’s all this is. It’s a toy octopus.
“Metal sphere, brown plastic inside and contains a glass-like cube inscribed with KK004.”
This thing is highly specialized. It isn’t an absolute certainty, but it appears to be a bearing that’s a prototype for a hip replacement. The rough machining indicates that it’s definitely a prototype, though, and not an actual hip replacement.
“Found in a medical collection, marked “D.P.G.M”, ca. 20-30 cm length. What is it?”
It looks a bit like a lightsaber, doesn’t it? Well, it obviously isn’t a lightsaber, but it does light up. This is an example of a tongue depressor that’s illuminated for better visibility.
