The world is full of gadgets, gizmos, whatsits and random stuff whose purpose isn't immediately apparent.
Thanks to the subreddit r/whatisthisthing, we can indulge our curiosity and figure out what these things are, once and for all. Let's check out some of the weirder stuff.
Here's a fun, and potentially valuable find. It's the pneumatic accelerator tank of an engine control system from a Soyuz rocket. As for how it actually works, well, I'm no rocket scientist.
This is probably a custom-made sterilization system. It's hard to say how well it would work, since ultraviolet light is better at sterilization, but this person is trying it with green light.
You read about snuff boxes and snuff containers in old books, but what did these antiquated old things actually look like? Well, thanks to this photo, you now know what one of them looked like.
This isn't an unusually long trail. It just shows disturbed water that hasn't fully mixed back in yet. The sun shines differently on the different surfaces which makes the trail appear super long.
This is clearly a wrench ring, one that was probably worn as jewelry. It probably broke and fell off someone's hand in the processing plant and wound up in the chicken.
These are bio filters, commonly used in fish tanks or sewage treatment facilities. As for why they're showing up by the hundreds, it's hard to say. Perhaps a container fell off a ship.
Here's one where the poster was actually bang-on with their guess. This is probably a cannonball. It's hard to tell whether it was fired from a cannon or simply stored on the property.
Some of you are probably nodding knowingly as you recognize this as a sign of major vole activity. These little rodents live and burrow underground and can cause some serious disruption to the lawn above.
This is obviously the king of clubs, but what's its purpose? Bank employees are probably using it as a safety signal. It could indicate that the bank is all clear to open up.
This cryptic object is more than likely a Hindu ritual box. It's used to store colorful powders like turmeric, which can then be sprinkled over statues of idols.
Those aren't cartoonishly long smoke stacks, they're cartoonishly long piles. This boat is a barge, and when it's out at sea doing barge stuff, it lowers the piles into the sea floor for stability.
This is obviously an old-timey object, but what is it? Turns out it's an old-timey fire extinguisher. If it was heated to a certain point, it would shatter and (hopefully) extinguish some of the flames.
This one is just flat-out hilarious, and you may already know what this is. Despite the poster's claim that it probably fell out of the sky, it's more likely that it just fell out of someone's pocket. That's because it's a vape pen.
It looks like the world's most secured gate, but it's actually only got a normal level of security. It's designed so that only one lock needs to be opened for the gate to swing open. It's just that lots of people have their own keys for it.
This looks like some kind of new-age thimble, but it's actually organic in nature. That's because it's a stingray tooth, believe it or not. They use these flat teeth to grind up hard stuff like shells.
The person who posted this is right to be suspicious. This shows a frequency scanner which can pick up and clone the signals from car key fobs.
This type of pan probably has a few names and nicknames, but in short, it's a fat-draining pan. It's designed to make it easy to pour fat or liquids out.
This stuff is a weird color and it keeps expanding. You know what else is a weird color and keeps expanding? Expanding foam. It's likely from some unused cans that were buried underground and rusted open.
It's tough to see because it's buried in plaster and drywall dust, but this object is in front of a safe in the wall. That means it's the keyhole of the safe.
This is probably an optical survey prism. It's there to measure the weight of a building's foundation. If the building settles, the optical prism will give a sense of just how much.
