51 Times The Internet Explained The Purpose Of The Weirdest And Hard-To-Understand Things In The World

If there is something you don't get, ask the internet. You might get sarcastic answers, but you'll likely also get the truth.

Stephanie

Published in Interesting
30 Jun 2022

51 Times The Internet Explained The Purpose Of The Weirdest And Hard-To-Understand Things In The World

Some of the internet's favorite mysteries are the ones sitting in plain sight, waiting for someone to explain them. A strange panel, a tiny tower, a weird tool, or a random object in an attic can turn into a full-blown guessing game in seconds.

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That is exactly why the Reddit community What Is This Thing? has become such a popular stop for curious people. Users post photos of confusing objects, and millions of fellow internet sleuths jump in to identify what they are and what they do.

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From odd household fixtures to unusual finds in storage, these posts show just how many everyday objects still manage to stump people. Here are some of the weirdest examples the internet has tried to solve.

1. "My girlfriend's house has this panel next to the basement door that lights up whenever the basement light is on. Why?"

Answer: "It’s to tell you that the basement light is on."

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2. "What is this ice phenomenon I found on the forest floor today?"

Answer: "The term for it is frost flower and has to do with moisture freezing as it escapes plant tissue."

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3. "What is this thing? Small gold pig container with removable tiny spoon for a tail."

Answer: "Salt cellar aka salt pig."

4. "Toilet with a u-shaped divot in the front."

Answer: "It's a type of handicap toilet, more common in Europe than in the US. It's supposed to have an open-front seat, too.

That allows a person to slide straight onto and off of the seat (such as from a wheelchair), without their genitals ever touching the seat or the bowl. This is more comfortable and decreases the spread of disease."

4. "Toilet with a u-shaped divot in the front."

5. "Found in my math teacher's room. 100 squares with varying patterns and colors. No patterns seem to be same."

Answer: "They are times. For example, 4 is 2 blue, and blue is 2. So 4 is 2x2. 8 has three blue 2x2x2.

96 has 4 blue 2x2x2x2 (32) x red which is 3. 32x3 is 96. "

5. "Found in my math teacher's room. 100 squares with varying patterns and colors. No patterns seem to be same."

6. "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."

Answer: "It's where a scale used to be."

7. "Why do these window grills have a bulge. Seen in Spain."

Answer: "They're called "belly bars" in a lot of places. They're designed for flower boxes.

Edit: forgot to mention that the primary purpose is security. The rounded part is for flower boxes."

7. "Why do these window grills have a bulge. Seen in Spain."

8. "Burying our dog in the backyard who passed today at 16 and came across this underground wall."

Answer: "It’s got holes in it, that’s drywall. That thing fills up when it rains so the yard doesn’t flood."

9. "Art nouveau style hook made of silver."

Answer: "A boot button hook. Used to hook all those tiny buttons on ladies' boots."

10. "Heavy and small. Found in Southern Germany."

Answer: "Medieval pilgrim’s badge."

11. "Strange graves in a village graveyard in northwest Iran. So I have seen these graves since I was a kid but never understood what the marking meant. they don’t look like Christian or Muslim graves and no one in the village knows their origin. If someone knows anything, I would appreciate the help."

Answer: "Gravestones in NW Iran sometimes have figural/narrative carvings that indicate the occupation of the person."

12. "What is this 6-floor tiny tower in the middle of a parking lot, adjacent a baseball field in East Austin, TX?"

Answer: "It's a firefighter practice building. Hey, use that whole area for training of all sorts including high-speed chase training for cops as well as a firing range."

13. "WITT - Two card parked on a street, both seem to have t-shirts (or some sort of material) over their wing mirrors, but just on the side facing the road."

Answer: "Its to keep birds from attacking the mirrors."

14. "What is the intended purpose of this very thin, glass covered drawer?"

Answer: "It’s a bedside cabinet and it’s to put cups of coffee/ breakfast on so it doesn’t leave coffee rings/stains on the top."

15. "What is this oddly burned log I found at a campsite?"

Answer: "Swedish log burning....burns longer than firing a log onto a fire."

16. "Kids pack on air flight contained these with no explanation or instructions. What are they?"

Answer: "Ahh...the inventor didn't realize that some parents even adults need instructions. Surely you can see that these look like airplane wings!

"Kids flying Air France can play with their food thanks to Catalan designer Eugeni Quitllet, who created a spoon, fork, and knife that can be transformed into a small model aircraft. "

The spoon, fork, and knife for the kid's meal pack have slots in their handles, you slot these into the handles to make model airplanes. Notice that you get 3 of them, and "mon avion" is French for "my airplane"."

16. "Kids pack on air flight contained these with no explanation or instructions. What are they?"

17. "What is up against this person's mouth?"

Answer: "Court stenographer mask so they can dictate."

18. "What is this red leather devil figure, found in a wooden box in an attic?"

"Turns out one of the weirder ways skates and rays have been used by people is as curiosities. These cartilaginous fish, related to sharks, were flipped over and “shaped” into gruesome likenesses of imagined sea devils or maybe evil-looking mermaids.

After being dried out and shellacked they were sold in port cities and seaside towns as far back as the 16th century. The origins of the name are obscure, but some articles reference jeune fille d’Anvers which translates as girl from Antwerp.

Intentionally fishing and drying out sea creatures as tourist trinkets, whether sea stars, sea horses, or Jenny Hanivers, has fortunately fallen out of fashion. But beach combing is still a great way to come upon all sorts of interesting bits and pieces brought in on the tide and tossed ashore by a wave to dry in the sun."

18. "What is this red leather devil figure, found in a wooden box in an attic?"

19. "What are these tiny brown and tan beads I found in my carpet and on my windowsill?"

Answer: "Looks like termite frass, aka termite poop."

20. "WITT? Slightly rusty metal plate with "STOP" in cutout lettering"

Answer: "Rear Light Stop Face Plate A-13442-AR it’s from a vintage ford."

And if you want more visual head-scratchers, these 70 photos that make your brain need a restart are basically the internet’s own prank.

21. "This metal decorative floral piece, removable petals, 10” long, on a table top."

Answer: "Ashtray."

22. "What is this instrument/tool this woman is displaying?"

Answer: "It's a bed warmer."

23. "Wooden machine hanging on the wall of a historical building. It features dials that all seem to be in sync. Knob below when pushed makes the dials jump, but turning does nothing. The dials are numbered but a few are labeled parlor, ladies entrance and bath room."

Answer: "Servants summoning panel. Buttons or pulls all over the house ring a bell there."

24. "What is this type of clamp used? Only says china on it."

Answer: "That’s a gang lock for lockout/tagout. You place this on a breaker when multiple people are working on equipment to keep people from turning the equipment on."

25. "I've seen this cane shaped (usually) brass post at numerous bars and pubs, and wondered what it is and what it is used for. l have been unable to Google the correct sequence of words to get a result."

Answer: "Divider or "service divider". It serves to keep standing customers to one side, away from the part of the bar where servers pick up drinks.

Also notice the opening under the bar, the bartender (in some designs) can lift the top and gets in and out. You don't want customers standing there blocking access."

25. "I've seen this cane shaped (usually) brass post at numerous bars and pubs, and wondered what it is and what it is used for. l have been unable to Google the correct sequence of words to get a result."

26. "Ukraine National Police posted an image of this strangely textured object, they call it "dangerous to health and even life"... but what is it?"

Answer: "Butterfly mines."

27. "Park Bench with weird cutouts. Don't think it's for bikes, you'd need a really long chain to wrap all the way around."

Answer: "It’s for bikes. When u want to sit you park your bike behind you. It’s not meant to lock your bike and leave."

28. "WITT: Small metal trinket found buried on rural Missouri farm. Appears to have an eagle, Flor de Lis, and rope pattern on from and a metal band on the back. Quarter for scale."

Answer: "It's a boy scout neckerchief slide."

29. "Enclosed, copper gazebo type thing on a residential property. House built in 1929."

Answer: "It's a cupola. At least it was. When old buildings are torn down, people buy these and repurpose them."

30. "What is this thing? Circular thing on a post in an antique place."

Answer: "This is an Engine Order Telegraph used in older marine vessels. Allowed the Captain remote communication with the ship's engine room."

31. "Found buried in the closet of a commercial kitchen. What've I got? About 6 inches in diameter."

Answer: "It's a hamburger press."

32. "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. It seems to be from the 70s and made primarily out of aluminum. All I can think of is it was some sort of tithe device, but it doesn't seem to open."

Answer: "A device found in a church that says “PLEASE” on it only has one meaning, MONEY. It is some sort of offering collector."

33. "Cinderblock stove structure on the edge of 1920 farmhouse property. Located down the hill from the house."

Answer: "That’s what it is. Cook houses were often away from the main house to reduce fire risk and to just deal with the heat in the summer."

34. "Found on the beach near Myrtle Beach, SC. We just had a big storm. It's very firm and breaks apart smoothly. Seems organic. Hypothesis is it's a large chunk of fat."

Answer: "We used to get stuff like this on our beach in colder weather. It turns out it was fats in the “treated” water from the Boston sewer plant that was pipelined out into Cape Cod Bay.

They would clump together into big fatty lumps like that one. Industrial lubricants (synthetic waxes) also regularly get dumped from ships and wash up on shores.

Wax or fat seems most likely."

34. "Found on the beach near Myrtle Beach, SC. We just had a big storm. It's very firm and breaks apart smoothly. Seems organic. Hypothesis is it's a large chunk of fat."

35. "Strange “bench” with tubing near the parking lot of an old elementary school."

Answer: "This is playground equipment from the 70s-80s. You lay on your back and slide through by pulling on the bars."

36. "WITT: This metal "ring" was in every toilet in a hospital. No search I have done was able to locate a match or answer."

Answer: "Stops flushable wipes from being flushed. Traptex Plumbing Protection System."

37. "Came in a box of candy making supplies that I got off Craigslist. Measures 4 1/2 inches wide and has about 60 twisty screws embedded into it. It came with lots of different semi-professional sugar/candy tools and this one has me stumped."

Answer: "It's for making spun sugar."

38. "Found this while cleaning out the attic. It's wood, looks handmade, measures 20cm, but I have no idea what it is or does!"

Answer: "Perhaps it's a Yacouba Double Spoon - a symbol of hospitality in traditional African art. It represents two very distinct universes that are opposite."

39. "Light Fixture" I noticed at a restaurant in NL, Canada. Appears to be some sort of old machinery."

Answer: "It’s the lift mechanism from a dumbwaiter."

40. "To piggy back off the other clothing "loop" post: What is this loop towards the end of both the sleeves on my jacket? Who would hang their jacket up by the sleeves? What are these for?"

Answer: "The fleece can go inside an outer shell jacket. The loops connect inside the sleeves of the jacket so that the sleeves of the fleece don't come out of the jacket when you take it off."

41. "Brass or Bronze Ball with Dividing Lines"

Answer: "Petanque ball."

42. "Found this behind a commercial freezer while doing renovations. Plastic casing, plastic looking balls, metal shroud, about 1.5 inches in length. Wall anchor? Cyanide capsule?"

Answer: "This is a scent/pheromone capsule for a moth glue trap."

43. "Large chunk of (metal?) Weighs quite a bit in your hand and hasn't changed in color in decades."

Answer: "The circled m logo is the logo of the réunion des musées national, the French public museums. Probably a copy of a cuneiform tablet is available as a souvenir at the Louvre, among other museums."

44. "Large plastic hood with gloves attached. Found in Chicago residential alleyway."

Answer: "Glove box. Laboratory glove box.

Used to isolate samples. I'm sure you may have seen them once or twice in movies with science labs etc."

44. "Large plastic hood with gloves attached. Found in Chicago residential alleyway."

45. "Bronze and lead object, with some kind of scale in it, no moving parts, found while digging."

Answer: "Appears to be a German artillery fuse."

46. "Found tiny vial of thick liquid with a bead inside. There were also 4 rubber things for your fingers and it was all in a sealed black foil packet. Any idea what it is?"

Answer: "It’s a lotion that comes with temporary tattoo kits. The little rubber finger covers are for applications."

47. "My neighbor just installed this outside of their window. I assume it measures something but I have never seen such a pole."

Answer: "It’s an antenna."

48. "WITT? 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."

Answer: "The dial is a potentiometer which suggests maybe those are headphone sockets with a volume control."

49. "Found this plastic device buried in the garage. About 13 inches long, and when you pull back the trigger where your hand goes it lifts the little knob on the end upwards. The bottom side of the knob has Velcro on it."

Answer: "Looks like those TSA wands that test for explosives. They put a little cloth piece in there, rub it all over your s**t and then put the little cloth pad in a detector."

50. "What are these lights that appear to be behind the mirror in the hotel I’m staying at?"

Answer: "It’s likely supposed to be an “infinity mirror” you lay a one-way mirror over a standard one and put the LEDs between the layer giving it a tunnel appearance. The missing side could be a bad strip of LEDs."

51. "Friend found both together while diving at Makaha, Hawaii. Orange/brown, hard, and looks like they have layers."

Answer: "Mouth plates of some kind of fish, possibly pufferfish!"

It's always fun to learn something new, especially about uncommon, weird things. Hopefully, this post taught you something new, and you can share it with your friends if you find it interesting.

In the meantime, if you have something weird or unusual, feel free to share it with us in the comment section below.

Still scratching your head about the “useful but unexplainable” stuff, check out these marketplace finds that defy explanation.

1. "My girlfriend's house has this panel next to the basement door that lights up whenever the basement light is on. Why?"

2. "What is this ice phenomenon I found on the forest floor today?"

3. "What is this thing? Small gold pig container with removable tiny spoon for a tail."

4. "Toilet with a u-shaped divot in the front."

5. "Found in my math teacher's room. 100 squares with varying patterns and colors. No patterns seem to be same."

6. "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."

7. "Why do these window grills have a bulge. Seen in Spain."

8. "Burying our dog in the backyard who passed today at 16 and came across this underground wall."

9. "Art nouveau style hook made of silver."

10. "Heavy and small. Found in Southern Germany."

12. "What is this 6-floor tiny tower in the middle of a parking lot, adjacent a baseball field in East Austin, TX?"

13. "WITT - Two card parked on a street, both seem to have t-shirts (or some sort of material) over their wing mirrors, but just on the side facing the road."

14. "What is the intended purpose of this very thin, glass covered drawer?"

15. "What is this oddly burned log I found at a campsite?"

16. "Kids pack on air flight contained these with no explanation or instructions. What are they?"

17. "What is up against this person's mouth?"

18. "What is this red leather devil figure, found in a wooden box in an attic?"

19. "What are these tiny brown and tan beads I found in my carpet and on my windowsill?"

20. "WITT? Slightly rusty metal plate with "STOP" in cutout lettering"

21. "This metal decorative floral piece, removable petals, 10” long, on a table top."

22. "What is this instrument/tool this woman is displaying?"

23. "Wooden machine hanging on the wall of a historical building. It features dials that all seem to be in sync. Knob below when pushed makes the dials jump, but turning does nothing. The dials are numbered but a few are labeled parlor, ladies entrance and bath room."

24. "What is this type of clamp used? Only says china on it."

25. "I've seen this cane shaped (usually) brass post at numerous bars and pubs, and wondered what it is and what it is used for. l have been unable to Google the correct sequence of words to get a result."

26. "Ukraine National Police posted an image of this strangely textured object, they call it "dangerous to health and even life"... but what is it?"

27. "Park Bench with weird cutouts. Don't think it's for bikes, you'd need a really long chain to wrap all the way around."

28. "WITT: Small metal trinket found buried on rural Missouri farm. Appears to have an eagle, Flor de Lis, and rope pattern on from and a metal band on the back. Quarter for scale."

29. "Enclosed, copper gazebo type thing on a residential property. House built in 1929."

30. "What is this thing? Circular thing on a post in an antique place."

31. "Found buried in the closet of a commercial kitchen. What've I got? About 6 inches in diameter."

33. "Cinderblock stove structure on the edge of 1920 farmhouse property. Located down the hill from the house."

34. "Found on the beach near Myrtle Beach, SC. We just had a big storm. It's very firm and breaks apart smoothly. Seems organic. Hypothesis is it's a large chunk of fat."

35. "Strange “bench” with tubing near the parking lot of an old elementary school."

36. "WITT: This metal "ring" was in every toilet in a hospital. No search I have done was able to locate a match or answer."

37. "Came in a box of candy making supplies that I got off Craigslist. Measures 4 1/2 inches wide and has about 60 twisty screws embedded into it. It came with lots of different semi-professional sugar/candy tools and this one has me stumped."

38. "Found this while cleaning out the attic. It's wood, looks handmade, measures 20cm, but I have no idea what it is or does!"

39. "Light Fixture" I noticed at a restaurant in NL, Canada. Appears to be some sort of old machinery."

40. "To piggy back off the other clothing "loop" post: What is this loop towards the end of both the sleeves on my jacket? Who would hang their jacket up by the sleeves? What are these for?"

41. "Brass or Bronze Ball with Dividing Lines"

42. "Found this behind a commercial freezer while doing renovations. Plastic casing, plastic looking balls, metal shroud, about 1.5 inches in length. Wall anchor? Cyanide capsule?"

43. "Large chunk of (metal?) Weighs quite a bit in your hand and hasn't changed in color in decades."

44. "Large plastic hood with gloves attached. Found in Chicago residential alleyway."

45. "Bronze and lead object, with some kind of scale in it, no moving parts, found while digging."

46. "Found tiny vial of thick liquid with a bead inside. There were also 4 rubber things for your fingers and it was all in a sealed black foil packet. Any idea what it is?"

47. "My neighbor just installed this outside of their window. I assume it measures something but I have never seen such a pole."

48. "WITT? 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."

49. "Found this plastic device buried in the garage. About 13 inches long, and when you pull back the trigger where your hand goes it lifts the little knob on the end upwards. The bottom side of the knob has Velcro on it."

50. "What are these lights that appear to be behind the mirror in the hotel I’m staying at?"

51. "Friend found both together while diving at Makaha, Hawaii. Orange/brown, hard, and looks like they have layers."

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