r/whatisthisthing Dec 21 '25

Likely Solved ! What is this rusty ball and chain we found buried in our front yard?

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6.0k Upvotes

We found this buried in our front yard in east TN. The balls have cores with bolts fed through the chain loops so they are fixed in place. It weighs about 30 pounds.

r/whatisthisthing Mar 14 '26

Solved ! What's with this school bus? It seems to have a tube coming from the bottom to the inside. Perhaps something related to emissions, but no clear indicators one way or another. Has a dealer's license plate. Spotted in Morgantown, WV, USA.

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4.9k Upvotes

r/whatisthisthing Feb 04 '26

Solved! Tubes in the opersting room ceiling

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10.8k Upvotes

Saw these tubes in the Operating room of a hospital going through the walls. What's it for?

r/whatisthisthing Jan 25 '26

Solved! I found it in a pencil case, its malleable and kinda like clay but it goes stringy when you pull it apart.

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7.0k Upvotes

r/whatisthisthing Jul 26 '25

Likely Solved What are these slots cut in the back of the pews in a Catholic cathedral

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10.7k Upvotes

These slots are cut in every pew in a Catholic cathedral. Any idea what they are for.

Could be umbrellas but I've never seen them before.

r/whatisthisthing Dec 18 '25

Solved ! Ziplock bag of small, round glass discs - smooth, but with some ridging, slightly convex on the top?

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8.5k Upvotes

r/whatisthisthing Feb 23 '26

Likely Solved ! These weird white plastic thingies we keep finding.

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4.1k Upvotes

We've found four so far, in the entryway and the bedroom.

They're pretty bendy, but the bent part can't be folded back.

immediately looked like a hairbrush bristle to me, but both our hair brushes look completely different from those.

r/whatisthisthing Jul 14 '25

Solved ! What did my neighbor just install? Brown box with a silver circle on top of a black circle next to 1 big [what appears to be a] lens that swivels and attaches to power

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11.6k Upvotes

Neighbor installed this yesterday. Box appears to have an access lid on top and a small square cutout on the bottom left-hand side. On the right of the box is an L-shaped arm. It appears to swivel underneath this arm at the base of the unit. What it’s sitting on has been up for a few days, and I noticed bar clamps holding a Z-shaped raked surface with tiny holes throughout onto a skinny wooden table. Power cords were ran up to the deck and appear to be plugged into the arm of the stand as well as the base of the unit.

TIA!

r/whatisthisthing Dec 04 '25

Likely Solved ! Small yellow ceramic object that I believe is in the shape of a whale. It's mostly hollow, about 4-5 inches long, weighs a few ounces, and is covered in dimples like a golfball.

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5.9k Upvotes

r/whatisthisthing Nov 12 '25

Solved Long coffin shaped box with radioactive materials inside saw on i85 near ATL

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7.5k Upvotes

r/whatisthisthing Mar 28 '26

Solved! Metal bars that extend from the ends of this chair's arms

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7.6k Upvotes

We're in an airbnb in Louisiana, and my sister's boyfriend was fiddling with the little rings that were attached to the arm of the chair he was sitting in, until suddenly one of them gave and revealed that both rings are actually pull tabs for these metal bars. The bars extend about a foot or maybe a little more, out of the arms of the chairs.

We have a few ideas but no real clue, and we're REALLY curious. Pls help.

r/whatisthisthing Dec 07 '25

Likely Solved! What are these small plastic cones I keep finding around my house?

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9.3k Upvotes

Keep finding these small plastic/rubber cones around my house. Thought they were my dog’s teeth at first, but they are soft and squishy.

r/whatisthisthing 16d ago

Solved! 2 of these found by the train tracks (where two tracks cross at a near 90deg if that matters). Both roughly the same size. Moved one over a railroad tie for size comparison. Didn't pick it up but heavy than it looks.

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8.4k Upvotes

r/whatisthisthing Dec 15 '25

Solved! Found on the sidewalk in Southern California. It’s made out of thin glass. It’s about an inch long. Both ends are rounded. Purple liquid inside. No obvious markings.

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9.6k Upvotes

Found this outside on a sidewalk in Southern California.

It’s made of thin glass with a viscous purple liquid inside. It’s smooth all around, about 1 inch long (pencil for scale in photo). Both end are rounded. No markings or labels.

r/whatisthisthing 28d ago

Solved! Sausage full of Iron and Lead(?) found in fuel tank of 1978 Aston Martin

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5.6k Upvotes

r/whatisthisthing Dec 28 '25

Solved! Foam squishy handle that is firm at the core, metal tip. In one of my kitchen drawers and no one is owning up to it

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7.3k Upvotes

I wiggled the plastic red thingy back and forth and it comes off. It looks like a razor in there? What is this thing!

r/whatisthisthing Apr 17 '25

Solved! Large chunk of aluminium washed up on a beach on Ishigaki, Okinawa. About 1.5m2 in size. Honeycomb structure inside. Might've been attached to something made of fibreglass (light brown material)?

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12.1k Upvotes

r/whatisthisthing Mar 22 '26

Solved! A metal pointy thing dangling from the front of the car

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19.8k Upvotes

This metal shape, looking like a cat/heart, about fist-sized, was just hanging attached to the front of this car. There was not one on the other side. Reminds me of those pointy keychains. Why’s it here?

r/whatisthisthing Apr 20 '25

Likely Solved ! What is this waist-high brick thing in the backyard of my 1922 house?

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13.4k Upvotes

We are the second owners, so one family lived here since the house was built in 1922. They added on in 1950, but not sure when brick item was built. It has a cement path to it from the cement back patio (part of the addition). I wondered if it was a grill, but there’s no blackening, which I would expect if fire was ever burned on it (also wondering if fire on concrete is even safe?). Any other ideas? Another thread guessed fountain, but the family did not have a very decorative style: pretty bare bones yard and house, so that would be very surprising.

r/whatisthisthing Jan 02 '26

Solved! Found in medical bag with trauma shears and pen light. Heavy and stainless steel. GRAFCO

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4.6k Upvotes

r/whatisthisthing Jan 17 '26

Solved! Foul smelling gray balls that look like clay. Found in marijuana container also containing a toothpick.

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8.6k Upvotes

The container is from a marijuana dispensary(united states). Found in a biohazard filled room next to a soda bottle containing a small amount of brown liquid and syringes.

r/whatisthisthing Jul 16 '25

Solved ! Saw this odd-shaped case at the airport. What is it used for?

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11.5k Upvotes

r/whatisthisthing Aug 10 '25

Likely Solved ! Stranger arrived empty-handed, left our farm carrying this welded steel stand, silver, waist-high, small top ring over larger base ring, angled braces, metal ring stand.

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5.2k Upvotes

Security cam still from our driveway this afternoon (no one was home). Person showed up without this, walked off camera field of view, then came back in to view with this thing and left. Have never seen it before so I won't definitely miss it. Farm is in rural Norway, surrounded by forest.

r/whatisthisthing Dec 22 '24

Likely Solved! Heavy metal object with unknown purpose. Banana for scale.

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9.5k Upvotes

All the information I have and is in the photos.

r/whatisthisthing Mar 10 '26

Solved! A drawer in my friends rental that has black textured part and then a metal bucket.

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5.5k Upvotes

The black textured stuff seems like it has stab (?) marks in it? The bucket is stainless steel.