15 Strange Objects With a Different Meaning Than We Imagined

When we think we’ve seen it all, we’re surprised by something unexpected. Sometimes we don’t know where some objects come from or how they came to be, but there’s always someone who can help us find the answer.

We at Bright Side love cracking puzzles and want to share 15 strange things that intelligent Internet users have found.

1. “What is this strange piece of plastic for? Any clue what it could be?”

Answer: It’s the antenna from a snail thing. Here is a similar one.

2. “Found this at a Philips shop. What is this thing?”

Answer: It’s a key fob for a programmable RFID entry system.

3. “These are squishy rubber balls a little less than 1/2 inch in diameter with divots. Found about a dozen in the street outside my house.”

Answer: They’re NERF-type ammo for kids’ play guns.

4. “Flying over an area outside of Tucson and we saw this hole, and it looks like it has water in it.”

Answer: It’s a pit mine, the spiral you see is the actual road trucks drive on to transport the materials mined from the bottom to the top.

5. “Found this object in the kitchen of a deceased relative. About 18 inches long, the puck-shaped end is heavy solid metal.”

Answer: It’s a handheld salamander. You heat the “puck” and hold it over the food to brown or melt the surface cheese, like a french onion soup.

6. “An aluminum puck scraped by road, the top part looks like 2 machined pieces separated by a rubber O-ring. A heavy thing shakes within.”

Answer: It’s a car fragrance diffuser. Here is a similar one.

7. “It’s upside down but appears to be a feeder or nester of some sort attached to the top of the fence by the previous owner. What is it?”

Answer: It’s for bees, particularly Mason bees.

8. “A green glass faceted item — not an ashtray. It is also hollow, which makes it much different.”

Answer: Looks like a geode bowl, usually used for change and keys.

9. “What is this thing hanging outside my fireplace? It seems to have gears inside of it and pivots into the fireplace.”

Answer: It’s a clockwork spit turner for automatically turning a roast or other meat.

10. “A metal gun, looks like trigger housing or something, found while metal detecting.”

Answer: A hammer to an old cap gun.

11. “What is this leather thing that was in a subscription box? We can’t figure it out!”

Answer: It’s a Kiko brand leather bookmark. Here is a similar one.

12. “My fiancée has this mug and we can’t figure out what Santa is supposed to be holding. It just says holly jolly holidays.”

Answer: It’s a list like a scroll, a naughty and nice list, I’d imagine.

13. “My husband found this in our new house’s ice maker. What is this?”

Answer: It’s jade, an eye massage tool. Here is a similar one.

14. “Little razors attached to some handle, found on top of the fridge. My husband has no idea either.”

Answer: It’s an attachment for a mandolin slicer to make julienne cut veggies. It looks like one of the sides broke off, where it clips on.

15. “Unrelated ceramic pieces from a cookie jar — no mention in the cookie jar. There are 5. What is it?”

Answer: It’s a ceramic cornucopia — it’s decorative, and you stuff it generously with little goodies spilling out.

What is the weirdest thing you’ve ever discovered, how did you determine its nature, and how much did it cost? Tell us about it in the comment section!