40+ Unknown Objects People Found But Needed Help Identifying

There are probably plenty of times where you have been browsing through thrift stores or local garage sales and found an item you just couldn’t identify. How do we even begin to understand the purpose behind some of these weird and wacky things people have laying around? Well, that we’re still unsure about but we have documented some of the weirdest ones on this list for your perusal!

At first glance, you may mistake this original piece of china for a teacup, or even a fancy milk-pouring-piece. Unfortunately, it is neither of these things. Instead, its function is something that is easily replaced by a sink now.

While this item may look very similar to a teacup, it is actually more commonly referred to as a scuttle. The top of the scuttle is used to hold the shaving cream, and the hole on the side is used to clean the brush.

There are probably a number of concerns you might have when using a public restroom. For starters, is it clean? Also, will the doors lock properly? Lastly, will there be any toilet paper in the stall? However, very rarely do we question the structural integrity of a toilet.

This person spotted a leg that is used to hold this toilet upright. Do not fret though! This toilet is now wall-mounted, meaning that the leg is probably just there to make it more sturdy for any potential users. Plus, it’s easier to clean around!

Have you ever wonder what carpenters and other construction workers used to use back in the day to make structurally sound buildings and pieces of furniture? Look no further, as the plumb bob is your answer.

This person quickly guessed that it was a plumb bob, normally used as a vertical reference line, which has been around since ancient Egypt. However, this one seems to be made out of old artillery shells. Looks like a piece of history!

An age-old piece of advice for people who can’t seem to stop shopping advises them to freeze their bank card or cash until it is a block of ice. By the time the ice defrosts, the person should be over their impulsive streak.

However, when this person found frozen money in the dirt at their university, it never melted. This is because while it looks that way, it’s actually a paperweight. The ‘ice’ is most certainly acrylic, but someone thought otherwise and evidently attempted to break inside it!

It can be risky buying our pets any kind of treats. There is always the worry that something may break, snap or rip and cause severe damage to our furry friends without intending to. However, when this person found this foreign object in a pet store, they found something ingenious about it.

This is actually a multi-purposeful pet toy. The flat part at the bottom of the toy sticks to the floor and stands upright, while the bristles help with cleaning their teeth – so clever!

Buying new tools for the toolbox can be a confusing experience. You want to get all of the basics to make sure that you’re covered in an emergency situation. However, on the other hand, you may have specialized devices that require unique tools.

This person was right by saying that this object is pliers, however, they’re probably not what you think. These are actually piston ring installation pliers and are probably only useful in the hands of mechanics, so you probably won’t have to worry about getting them!

There are some utensils in the kitchen that are useful but are so hard to identify at times. For instance, tiny butterknives with small prongs at the top are often used to cut and spread cheese on charcuterie boards. We have now sourced another addition to your board!

If you want to pick up olives and do not wish to use your fingers, use this handy little device. It is also useful if you want to retrieve olives from the bottom of your jar and can’t reach them manually.

Over the last year of being mostly homebound, a lot of us have been working on our bread game. From dabbling in making banana bread with overripe bananas to creating the perfect focaccia bread. However, you may need some extra tools to help perfect your baking skills.

When this user’s husband received this package they were initially confused. However, they later discovered that these utensils are used to make bread. The basket is for proofing, and the other pieces are for bench scrapping and cutting the dough.

Some of us still have a hard time trying to read a clock. Most children nowadays don’t even know how to read an analog clock because most of our clocks now are digital. However no matter your age, this clock is impossible to decipher.

This ‘Set Theory Clock’ is located in Berlin and it tells the time in increments of fives and ones using yellow lights. According to this, the first and second row is hours by fives and ones, while the third and fourth determine the minutes. Pretty cool, huh?

To the naked eye under regular light, this might look like a normal glass jar. But under UV light, it looks completely different. Under UV light, this once plain jar now glows a mysterious yellow-green color.

The numbers 1660 and 192 are strangely etched on the bottom of the jar. Lots of arguments have been had over the former contents inside this jar. Many are convinced it is manganese which is used as a clarifying agent in glass. Thus, this jar probably held a cream or jelly at one point.

Sometimes it’s actually fun to go to the grocery store and try something new. Whether it is to taste a new fruit or vegetable, or even something random that grabs your eye. This person spotted this weird-looking gummy at the store and asked Reddit for help in identifying it.

The buyer noted that it had the texture of gummy candy which helped the identification process along. Turns out, this weird food item with brown dots that look like seeds, is actually candied prickly pear. Now you can pretend to be Baloo from The Jungle Book!

You may just surprise yourself during your next trip to Goodwill. There are plenty of wonderful things to be found while thrifting, even items that can be useful to your everyday lives. However, this weird contraption definitely stood out.

This person found this weird item and couldn’t figure out its purpose alone. However, thanks to the internet she was able to figure out what it was. This device was normally used by tailors and seamstresses back in the day to add buttonholes to garments that were being made.

At first glance, you may think the item in the picture below is some sort of puzzle that the owner had to try and figure out. However, it is a lot more simple than that and this contraption is also useful to those living in rented homes too!

It’s called a trivet. The metal ‘jacks’ can be put underneath a hot pan or pot to keep them from directly touching the countertop. The trivet can be shaped any way that the user desires and will stop their counters from getting burn rings.

This weird find is originally from Corbridge, UK. However, even after the seller bought it, they still weren’t sure what it was. Luckily, after a Reddit post, the buyer was able to figure out what their new purchase was.

This odd contraption is called a tinder box, and no, you won’t be able to swipe right on it! Essentially, a tinder box had a hollow part in the middle which allowed people to store items needed to start a fire in an emergency, or just when they were cold.

It’s not every day that we wake up to find some weird new item that has seemingly fallen from heaven and landed on the roof of our homes. To show how large this item was, the owner posted their half-eaten banana beside it for scale on the internet and then got their answer.

Surprisingly, this item is actually an antenna. While it’s not one from a plane or even a floating satellite, it is from a nearby television antenna that had broken during the night. We hope that they were able to get it fixed!

Whenever you view a new home or apartment, it is good to get a look around at all of the different amenities before you put down your deposit. Otherwise, you’ll end up with a handful of questions like these people did when they discovered this box.

This white box which was situated about seven feet off the ground had a switch that corresponded to it, but the owners had no idea of its use. After an investigation, they found it was an old doorbell chime that no longer works. Big surprise there!

It can be annoying when we lose our phones. People will often tell us to look in the “last place we had it”, but if only it were that easy. When this person bought a new phone case, there was great confusion about this weird little attachment that came along with it.

Turns out it is actually a wearable lanyard – the string can be looped around a hole in the phone case, and then you can wear your phone around your neck. You’ll never have to worry about a missing phone again! Genius idea.

It is honestly disappointing to hear that people don’t know what these are. These pieces of rubber were so popular amongst ’90s kids, it is a shame Gen Z’ers don’t know what these are! On that note, it’s pretty obvious to us that the person who posted about this was born in the 2000s.

To all of you Gen Z’ers, this is called a snap bracelet. During the ’90s, many children wore these as accessories and they were easy to put on. Simply slap the bracelet around your wrist and the rubber will curl around and stay on. Pretty nifty and lots of fun to play with!

Gift exchanges in the office can be an awkward affair. It can be even worse when you have to buy a gift for someone you don’t really know. In that case, it’s probably best to come up with something that will make office life a bit easier.

However, when this person received this weird item, they weren’t sure what it was used for. It couldn’t be used as a pen holder as all the pens fell out. The internet decided its purpose is most probably to hold remotes. Case closed.

This next weird item was discovered deep within an old antique shop. Sometimes, gems like these can be found in shops like this and we won’t even know how cool they are. The only identifying feature of this item is it has ‘BX LT’ on the sales label.

While this may look like a strange version of a Russian doll, it is actually something that is useful for storing old threads. The rows on the top pieces are dividers or bobbins. These sections can hold the thread that is wound around it, storing it easily.

If you were to spot this following weird item on its own, you may have a hard time placing where it truly belongs. The original poster simply disclosed the only thing they knew about it, which is that it had a spring inside and rubber flaps beneath the teeth.

Reddit users found that this item has all the characteristics of a utility lock. These aren’t commonly used in the home, and as a matter of fact, are more often used by professionals who deal with niche problems. Its main purpose is to help with the process of installing cables.

We’ll do anything to keep our homes safe. Whether that is hiding all of our money in intricate places where burglars will never find it, or by installing a fancy new home security system. This homeowner discovered something a little bit more simplistic to help with protection.

In their home, which was built in the ’70s, they found this weird-looking pipe. This is actually a type of home security system that was used before technological advances. It would simply physically keep burglars from opening the door – ingenious!

There are items that have been passed down by so many generations, it is hard to know what the item was used for originally. That was the case for this poster, who had found this contraption, but most of the family couldn’t remember what it was used for.

After asking around, they eventually discovered that this old item was a lantern! However, this was not a typical oil burner lantern. Instead, it relied on a reaction between water and calcium carbide to create acetylene, which would burn as fuel.

Reusable straws are so trendy right now, we almost mistook this weird item for them! Despite looking like straws that could be used to tackle any drink regardless of viscosity, these are actually sewing items.

While it may not be for everyone, even knowing how to use them could be handy. Since most things are sewn inside out, these tools can help turn tubes of fabric to the other side, so you don’t have to do it by hand.

The photo of the abandoned building is enough to weird anyone out, however, people were confused about what the massive square block in the middle is. Was it a part of the building, or was it used for something more sinister?

They later found out that the block is referred to as a sand table. They were frequently used in mission planning as the space was big enough to have an entire map rolled out over it. The sand can also be drawn in to coordinate actions too.

Many people won’t recognize this item, and that’s just because it’s new. If you haven’t spotted this in your area yet, just wait, it’ll be installed soon! The original poster asked the internet if they knew what was going on here.

The people installing these new antennae confirmed that this is actually a 5G spot. It offers faster internet service for those using their cell data, and it is also fairly unnoticeable and unobtrusive. At least people won’t complain about how slow their data is, thanks to this device!

Some of us love to go stationery shopping. Whether it’s picking up new pens and books to go back to class, or getting a special highlighter to use during your workday, it is a fairly simple pleasure in life.

However, on the top of their new pen, this person found this weird yellow nib. After finding it to have a waxy consistency, they confirmed that it was actually a pen and highlighter combo. However, they noted that it was dried out and didn’t work. Disappointing!

It is clear from the dials and lenses on this machine that it is a microscope. However, it certainly isn’t your average microscopic device. In actual fact, it is something even more unique that the owner didn’t even realize.

Attached to the bottom of this microscope is a projector. This means that any slides that the person is looking at through the microscope can be projected onto a screen or wall. This is a pretty amazing find and would be a great addition to any classroom.

Upon first glance, it is pretty chilling to imagine what was last here. Was it something sinister? Was it something useful? It probably isn’t best to come across this weird design late at night when you’re alone.

However, when the original poster put this photo on the internet, they got the answers they were looking for. Thankfully, there was no scary backstory. In actual fact, people claimed it was actually a former placeholder for a trash can that has clearly been moved.

At first glance, someone may mistake this to be a weird-looking bug or worm. However, there is no need to worry about an insect infestation as this is merely a piece of brassy metal that has fallen off someone’s shoe.

More accurately, this piece of metal is referred to as an aglet which is something you probably didn’t know actually had a term. An aglet is a hard piece of plastic, or on occasion, metal, that is placed at the end of your shoelaces.

Normally when we purchase our cars, or we leave them at a mechanic to get fixed, we don’t think anything bad or confusing would come from that visit – other than an expensive bill to pay!

Despite not having a GPS function, nonetheless, this person found a GPS device in their car. He even googled the tracker and confirmed that it was indeed a GPS. Whether it was installed by the previous owner or the dealer, this is just weird and kind of spooky!

One of the most annoying things to happen when we are cooking is to realize that we are out of an ingredient. Instead of heading to the store for one item, people often want to take detours and make their own.

If you owned this device, you could easily make your own butter should you ever run out! The paddle from a butter churner would slip through this and it would help to churn the best butter you’ve ever tasted. We bet you’re eager to try this now!

This is probably the closest to a Ferrari many of us will come close to owning. The original poster of this image said that they found this weird item on the street, and on it was, lo and behold, the Ferrari logo embossed.

While it’s not a part of a car, it does belong to a company called Ferrari. However, they don’t focus on cars. Instead, they are focused on fixing your cabinets. This tool is, unfortunately, just a cabinet hinge.

This weird item may become incredibly handy to those of you who may suffer from a stinky garbage can. Whether it’s the trash inside or outside of the house, this plastic case will definitely be added to your next Amazon order!

These yellow orbs are better known as deodorizer capsules. Placing one of these at the bottom of your trash can will instantly make it smell better. It will probably make you want to take out the trash now that it doesn’t smell as bad.

Rarely any of us will ever carpet a room in our home. For starters, the job requires too many niche tools that are definitely not available in the average toolbox. Also, it is no small feat, meaning there are details that don’t cross most of our minds.

Like this next weird item. When this family discovered this wooden plank with carpet on it, they were stumped. However, this is actually a part of the carpeting process when the carpet is being stretched out with a power stretcher.

Most of us will probably only own one phone. Some people may own two if they have one for work and then another for their personal use. However, when this person spotted this device, they were very perplexed at the number of phones it had.

While most people would automatically accuse this person of being a thief, it’s far from the truth. Instead, this person was testing each phone. More specifically, they were testing the signal on each of the phones both in a train station and on the train.

As card games are becoming more popular, it isn’t uncommon for people to start selling their own novelty packs to keep people entertained. Instead of opting for the usual King and Queen cards on a standard deck, this person chose a dinosaur theme.

What’s great about this pack of cards is that not only does it have the numbers like usual, but it also contains stats about each dinosaur that is on the card. These stats usually include height and weight, which you can use as brainiac brownie points during small talk with your friends.

It isn’t necessarily the traffic lights that this poster is asking about. If you look very closely at the lights, you’ll notice thin lines that are vertically placed in each individual one. To get their questions answered, this Snapchatter took to Reddit and of course, got the answer.

These lines are called fins and they’re supposed to sit in front of the lights, and not on them. These are used to prevent the light from being seen from certain angles. Fins are frequently used at intersections to avoid drivers from getting confused and causing accidents.

Usually, when we see something strange in the sky, our minds might wonder that it is a possible UFO sighting. However, there is actually a very simple reason for this strange flare in the sky.

The original poster confirmed that the photo was taken near a military base. Meaning that flares could be set off all the time for drills or tests. It could also be a pilot firing off a flare to thank them for refueling their plane. We wish it was alien-related rather!

Imagine getting your hands on a Snuggie before they were so popular? Well, that’s exactly what this poster found. When they first purchased the blanket, they wondered why it had metal buttons attached to either end.

The metal snap buttons also came with a sheep embossed onto them. After years of searching, they eventually found out that this particular blanket was an early prototype of the modern-day Snuggie. The sheep are more than likely a logo of the company that first made them.

It is often not a great sign when someone needs the internet’s help in identifying this warning. Even worse, the original poster spotted this image outside their daughter’s preschool. While it’s obvious that this is a warning sign, it can be hard to determine what exactly it means.

According to the internet, they were quickly able to alert the poster that it is more of a general health warning rather than anything specific. These symbols are normally found in the cleaning closet.

When walking in the woods, you very rarely anticipate coming across large pieces of abandoned equipment. Yet surprisingly, the poster of this image was doing exactly that when they stumbled across this piece of an unknown metal.

Curious about their find, they asked the internet and were able to put this mystery to bed. This giant metal contraption is a hopper and is used to lift mixed concrete when using a crane. It is still weird how it ended up there though.

It might be a weird thought to think of our money as anything other than metal coins and paper notes. However, there are places that actually print their money on fabric as this person found out.

The image actually shows 25 Mark notes from Germany in the 1920s. Whilst these fabric notes couldn’t be used as actual currency, often Germans were able to exchange these notes for money from retailers. These notes were also made from linen and were issued by the Bank of Bielefield.

The story behind this weird item is very wholesome and shows that these are highly meaningful items. The original poster noted that these small pouches were filled with herbs and smelled like potpourri.

However, they’re too small to be potpourri pouches. Instead, the poster also noted that they found these on a hood of a truck parked at a Native American memorial. These are likely to be Native American prayer ties and each color is assigned to a different prayer – yellow is for giving thanks, for example.

When this poster moved in and discovered this old weird contraption outside their apartment complex, they immediately went searching for an answer. They weren’t aware of which neighbor owned it, so it was up to the internet to find the answer.

After hours of searching and asking other people, they finally got one. Apparently, this is a cast-iron sausage press. While it is not clear why it is placed outside, the dirt and cobwebs on it confirm that is it intended for decorative purposes now.