30 Unusual Finds That Had People Baffled Until The Internet Cracked The Case

The internet is a treasure trove of oddities, and nowhere is that more evident than in the subreddit “What is this thing?”. A place where users post pictures of mysterious objects and rely on the collective knowledge of the internet to identify them, this subreddit is a haven for the curious. Whether it’s an ancient artifact found in a backyard, an obscure kitchen gadget inherited from a grandparent, or something inexplicably washed up on a beach, the community always seems to have an answer.

#1 What Are The Little Finger-Sized Pockets For On This Leather Jacket?

Image source: AutomatonSwan

Shotgun shells. It’s a hunting jacket.

#2 Just Moved Into A New Apartment, Didn’t Notice This On First Walk Though. What Is It? (Three Wooden Sticks Painted White, On Hinge That Lets Them Swing, By Backdoor)

Image source: Vangogh_flamingo

A classic old school towel drying rack.

#3 This Came In A Swag Bag At A Career Fair. It Is Two Buttons On Either Side Of An Elastic Strip. No Holes. What Is This?

Image source: im_thelettert

Ear saver for n95 mask. Hook the elastic over the buttons instead of your ears.

#4 A Stone Object With Tiny Carved Stone Pieces Inside It

Image source: ShallowHowl

It’s a seal/stamp set. If the bottom of each small pieces are smooth, they are for you to custom to carve your name (pen name). A lot of workshops in China can do it easily. Maybe your local China town will be able to do it as well. Cool stuff.
Probably too much additional info, the words on the top of the box is 东壁图书，it should mean “the two stars 东and 壁, rule over all the books and graphs in the world”, it comes from some old Chinese poetry: 东壁图书府，西园翰墨林。 诵诗闻国政，讲易见天心。 位窃和羹重，恩叨醉酒深。 缓歌春兴曲，情竭为知音。
Roughly translated in: In the east, a library grand, In the west, a forest of brush in hand. Through poetry, the nation’s course we hear, Through the Book of Changes, heaven’s will appears.
A high station, honored, yet lightly borne, With gratitude for favors deep as morn. Soft songs evoke the joy of spring, True friendship inspires the heart to sing.

#5 Foot And A Half Long Fabric Cushion Hanging From Interior Hotel Door Knob

Image source: loftygoals_76

It’s to keep the door from closing. You put a loop on each side of the door handle and the cushion keeps the door from latching so you can bring in luggage, etc.

#6 Found This Cabinet Door In Our New House. What Is This Supposed To Be Used For?

Image source: jordan_mcgraw

Storing baking trays right next to the oven.

#7 Heavy Metal Cone With Some Sort Of Measuring Markings On It, Has Threads On The Inside

Image source: IGN_Aizawaa

Your post indicates you may possibly be in possession of unexploded ordnance (UXO).

#8 Strange Brick Room In Our 1860s House

Image source: Professional-Exam877

Could it be a dairy room?
A dairy room was a space on a farm where cheese and butter were prepared. It was often part of the farm kitchen for sanitary reasons and ease of access. Over time, the milk room became a separate farm structure or part of the barn.
http://researchingfoodhistory.blogspot.com/2018/04/dutch-dairies.html?m=1

#9 What Is This Thing? Found In A Creek Bed That I Explored Yesterday. It Is 17.8 Pounds And 5 Inches In Diameter. It Was Found In Kentucky

Image source: Muffinisthebest45

It’s called 18 pound round shot and was used on US, French, and British ships, so it came from a ship near there. It’s solid iron.
It’s round shot that can only be used in smooth bore cannons, so it could be Civil War or could be revolutionary war. Look into if there were any battles near there and you can find more provenance.

#10 What Did I Find? Found Underneath A Bathroom Vanity During Remodeling. They Are Small About 2 Inches Long. Little Glass Tubes Filled With Liquid

Image source: joesepa1805

Looks like antique perfume ampules. Also called perfume nips.

#11 What’s This Thing In The Background Of The Office? Light Beige Plastic, Has A Brown Wall Mount And What Looks Like A Cord. Was In The Kitchen Area

Image source: Frenchitwist

Early 1980s model Black and Decker SpotLiter brand rechargeable flashlight.

#12 Raised Circles That Just Showed Up On My Wall Within The Past Day

Image source: NormalReport

Sheetrock nails that are working out. Wall has flexed causing the nail heads to pop out.

#13 Metal Sphere Found Floating In Ocean On Se Alaskan Coast

Image source: Prize_Bee7260

Ship captain here. On the gooseneck vents that ships and boats have on deck, there’s a wire mesh screen right at the bottom of the opening and inside is a spherical aluminum ball. If water comes up on deck the ball will float up and plug the tube that comes from the ballast tank, water tank, fuel tank, void space or whatever it is. I’ve got three spares in my deck locker that look just like that.

#14 What Is This Small, Intricately Carved Thing I Found At An Estate Sale, And What Is It Made Of?

Image source: jeffersin

It is part of a cover for a 19th/20th century Qing Dynasty Chinese gourd cricket cage. Probably ivory, possibly bone. There would have been a carved lattice base as well as a wood collar, all fitted to a gourd container.
Here is a nice complete one.
https://www.zacke.at/auction/lot/9-an-ivory-and-gourd-sanyang-cricket-cage-qing-dynasty/?lot=38580&sd=1
Here is one missing the part you have. https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/chinese-carved-gourd-cricket-cage-61-c-c4b4b99a4f

#15 Gifted From A Student. Two Small Crystal Balls With A Hook That Has A Suction Cup On It. The Balls Each Have A Little Hole And A Little Divot. Any Ideas?

Image source: codykline99

Pretty sure they’re suncatchers. The suction cup hook is to hang them on a window pane

#16 Large Random Concrete “Steps” In A Field Outside Castle Cary, Somerset

Image source: Iscasteve

It’s a spillway for the river. If the river floods it should flow out there before breaking the bank elsewhere. The steps are to slow down the water so it causes less erosion.

#17 Small Metallic Ball Found In My High Schooler’s Jacket Pocket, Has A Waxy-Ish White Piece Stuck Inside

Image source: sidartha

That is beyond doubt a broken brass headed percussion mallet for bells/glockenspiel. The waxy part is the fiberglass handle of what’s called a ‘two-step’ mallet, where the handle is fiberglass with a rubber coating on the end.
Source: percussionist and band director.

#18 The Yellow Thing In The Firefighters Hand, It Looked Like He Held It Up To My Peep Hole

Image source: Datumz_

I cannot tell the model from the back of that fuzzy pic but it is a gas leak detection unit.

#19 Small Handheld Thing In A Ring Box Has An Electric Coil On The Bottom Of The Insert

Image source: just_another_human88

It’s a crystal radio. The galena crystal is on top (whisker) and the coil on the bottom.

#20 Space Capsule Looking Thing Going Through My Town

Image source: gcso

This is one of the Orion “boilerplates” that’s used for training and testing. This one appears to be a low-fidelity mockup that would be used for testing splash-down forces and then to train capsule recovery procedures.

#21 Clear Glass Warped Window Pane (Decoration?), UK Pubs, Shops And Houses. Found On A Door Or Window With Other Normal Glass Window Panes

Image source: Typical_Glove4445

It’s called bulls eye glass. An homage to the way glass sheet used to be made.

#22 Found In A Shipwreck, Does Anyone Know What This Is? Small Yellowish Amber Vial With Clear Liquid Inside! In A Leather Corded Pouch. Vial Is About 1 Inch Long

Image source: insomniac-mannequinn

Soviet perfume “Жасмин 76”.

#23 Found A Small Black (Plastic?) Bar Wired Directly Into My Outlet

Image source: Much-Pomegranate-372

Sure looks like a listening device to me. This is common to wire into a direct power source. Fun fact: watch batteries were invented to prolong surveillance devices and allow smaller listening devices. It also cut down on risk of sending someone in to constantly change out bugs. My favorite Place for fixed bugs is in the base of a lamp =P You should look into what we have nowadays. Credit cards with listening devices built in are pretty standard for informants(It’s replaced having to carry a physical device to record/transmit which can be dangerous for informants.) Criminals nowadays will even demand to see your unlocked smart phone. Directional mics that can pick up vibrations on walls and windows and convert into sound are pretty cool. Cameras that send photons and receive the bounce patterns kinda like an infrared sensor to map out entire houses. Products ordered online and sent through Amazon, USPS, FedEx, UPS… can be intercepted and the device can be planted, item is repackaged with no signs of it being tampered with, then sent to individuals being surveyed.

#24 Block On Hinge In The Floor Of Old Home. Sits Below Floor. Inside There’s Rollers. There’s Another Opposite A Wall From It

Image source: MapleSyrupKintsugi

It’s a hands free door opener.

#25 Round White Item Found Diving In The Sea, The Material Is Hard, About 3 Cm In Radius, Fb Minden Written On It And A Number

Image source: tinaa26

FB Minden might stand for “Feuerbestattung” Minden – Minden crematory. I think you stumbled over a chamotte marker from a crematory that was used to track the identity of a body as it turned to ashes and was buried at sea.

#26 What Is This Round Device On A Stand In Front Of Olympic Trap Shooters?

Image source: Buchiro1

That’s the microphone that picks up the shooter saying “pull” to release the clay pidgeon. It makes it more consistent for the shooters to have the automatic system release the clay than it is for a human to listen and respond hitting the button to send it flying. Just makes the sport more fair, and eliminates the possibility for that human error that definitely exists when not using this system. Source: Was top of my trap shooting team and practiced with both.

#27 Found At The Thriftstore. Made Out Of Hardwood. Solid Iron Chain Link. Brass Plates. Hollow Inside

Image source: BoerZoektVeuve

Apparatus for storing caught fish. Designed to stay put in a flowing stream.
-edit doesn’t look like a trout creel but the form indicates a similar function.

#28 Found In Very Remote North Qld, Australia. About 2cm Long, No Markings. Appears To Be Copper And Plastic With A Microchip

Image source: Derlictfrog

That’s a glass RFID tag that’s been broken out of its glass capsule. I used to work for a company that sold these. It was either dropped by someone who was trying to insert it in an animal for tracking, or it was in an animal that was eaten.

#29 Wooden Thing Sawed From A Single Piece Of Wood

Image source: Substantial-Rice1165

Please do not use this book stand as a dish rack!!!
It is carved from a single piece of wood and made in uzbekistan. The word for them is either lauh or laukh, if you’d like to google it.
BTW, if you find plans or a video of one being carved, tag me. I’d love to see it done.

#30 Two Men Carrying Shoulder Mounted Devices. Each Person Has The Device Strapped Around Their Waist. They Appear To Be Some Sort Of Scanning Or Detection Equipment. What Are They?

Image source: JoeyJoeC

I think they’re iWalkers/AdWalkers from this company (https://gomodigital.co.uk/iwalker), which does operate in Wales.
Even the black clothing seems to be part of their standard look.