Do you ever come across a thing you've never seen before, and have no idea how to figure out what it is? Well, you probably aren't alone. The good thing is, though, that you can take to the internet to figure these things out.
These strange discoveries were identified thanks to the collective power of the world wide web. Good thing someone somewhere knows something, right?
Though my heart is telling me it's a latch that opens a super secret compartment, my mind is telling me it's something else.
And that something else just so happens to be a mechanism to attach the mirror to the rest of the vanity. At least, that's what the Reddit comments agreed on.
Reddit user keepcalmorjustdie said, "Looks like battery adapters for a type 18650 battery." And OP thought this was the most accurate answer, even though there were other pretty convincing answers in the comment section to this post.
"As far as we know we don't have an alarm system, and the realtor didn't know what it was either. She guessed it was a detector of some sort, but I'd like to know for sure."
The Reddit comment section seemed a little weirded out by the fact that the real estate agent didn't know what this thing was. It's a doorbell (even I knew this one).
Reddit user phraca knew what this was right away. It's a tornado siren. If you're like me and have never seen one before, well, now you have. Hopefully it never has to go off.
Strangely enough, a few different Reddit commenters had the answer to this one. It's an expansion loop for a pipeline. Even though it looks like some kind of alien structure, it really isn't.
"It's the lever cap from a hand plane. Holds the blade and chip breaker in place," said Reddit user Beaver_Feathers. So it definitely isn't a prying tool.
According to Reddit user 510Goodhands, the M.F that's apparently on the back could stand for Miller Falls.
Reddit user Imadethis4things said, "It’s a pencil sharpener, but not in the traditional sense. Not for wooden pencils, but for drafting pencils." Not that I've ever seen one before, but that makes a lot of sense!
Apparently, these things are frequently asked about on Reddit. They're ladder jacks, which are used to basically make a ladder taller (kind of like how a car jack works, but for ladders).
To me, it looked kind of like a dam. But according to the Reddit comments, it's actually a weir.
A weir is kind of like a dam, but different. They're used to control water flow. Weird.
According to Reddit user Netopalas, "that is a 'safety' version of a memo/receipt spike. You put the ticket or receipt on the rod and push the top down punching the paper onto the rod." It's, like, some old fashioned office tool, I guess.
A couple of users got this one right, but user DirtVertAndHurt had a really good explanation for this thing:
"It’s a coding robot called Bot-Ann-E used in farm themed curriculum. It was originally used in Camp Invention and had also been used in Club Invention and at-home activity kits."
Reddit user mech-minded said that it "looks like a waveguide flange." Apparently, since this is something you'd find in an engineering building, this was the answer that made the most sense. Let's call it solved.
If you were like me and worried that this thing could be some kind of hidden camera, don't. It's not a camera.
In fact, it's a lot more helpful. Reddit user Animal__Mother_ wrote, "It’s the sounder for reverse parking sensors. The button will turn it on or off or change the tone." Okay then.
After a bit of help from the Reddit commenters, the OP figured it out. It's an antique pocket microscope, which I'm guessing is a little microscope people used to carry around in their pockets a super long time ago.
There are a few Reddit users out there who know a lot about antique things, and they knew about this thing, too. It's a very old AM radio.
According to user makeluvnotsex, "There is a connector on the right rear corner for hooking up headphone or speakers. Those wouldn't have produced very much sound and were usually used with an old style single sided headphone." That's actually super interesting.
This was posted by the same person who was asking about the thing that ended up being a pocket microscope. This thing, though, is different.
OP figured it out after someone sent them a link for a thing called a seed microscope, which (according to the info in the link), was once used for looking at seeds and small things in the field.
It looks like some kind of camera, or like one of those things in a spy movie that emits a laser beam for security.
But no. According to the comments on this post, it's an incredibly expensive speaker system.
This tool is probably the last thing you'd ever expect it to be. I'm not kidding.
According to Redditor johnny84k, "That's a tool for killing eels by severing their vertebra. Normally anglers kill fish by stunning them first and then piercing their heart with a knife. With an eel you cannot do that. They are very slippery and their skin is quite tough." Uh, okay.
So apparently, cinnamon can be used to keep ants out of your house. Why it's in the shape of a cross, though, is a bit of a bigger mystery. Though, the same Reddit users who figured out it was ant repellant thought it was probably some sort of tradition or ritual.
If anything was going to be an alien egg, it would be this thing.
And yet, it's from planet Earth. OP opened the sphere to find a bit of flesh and maggot larvae (ew) inside, meaning that this was very likely a bit of feathery skin that came off of a mallard (based on the pattern of the feathers themselves), and has started to decompose. Poor bird!
