15 Times People Found Strange Things and Internet Detectives Came to the Rescue

The world has seen many mysterious objects appear here and there to spice things up. One of the more recent cases was the so-called Utah monolith, a tall (12 ft or 3.7 m) object spotted deep in the Red Rock desert in 2020. Even though hundreds of similar objects made by artists and small businesses have appeared in other places, the person who installed the original one and the reason behind it remains unknown.

We at Bright Side love to shed light on the purposes of mysterious objects; but not without the help of Internet detectives, of course.

1. “What is this wooden spoon-like thing?”

Answer: “I think it’s called an ozhau, a traditional ladle from Kazakhstan.”

2. “What is this flaccid orange hammer?”

Answer: “I think it’s a baseball tee for training hitters that tend to drop their swing. The little cup thing is installed upside down but would be used to hold the ball.”

3. “I just moved, and this dial is in my master bathroom.”

Answer: “This is a humidistat. The RH% is relative humidity.”

4. “The new bra I bought online has a ’microchip’ inside of it.”

Answer: “This seems to be new age healing stuff, like the magnetic bracelets and such.”

5. “A tiny camera or some sort of detector on the ceiling? Found in a waxing salon.”

Answer: “It’s an indicator to show that the light has a battery backup in case of an emergency and that it’s fully charged.”

6. “A small, round thumbs-up clip of sorts”

Answer: “It’s a phone stand.”

7. “A small metallic object — its age is unknown, but possibly an antique.”

Answer: “It is a drafting pen for drawing interrupted (dotted/dashed) lines.”

8. “A small, off-white block, possibly made from ceramic or porcelain”

Answer: “These porcelain blocks were used to fasten an old style of black, flat telephone wire along the outside of a house.”

9. “My grandma was up for a walk and she found this strange wristwatch in the grass.”

Answer: “It appears to be a wrist remote for a GoPro-style video camera.”

10. “Found this today buried in my garden.”

Answer: “It’s a type of bead called a ’cannoli bead.’”

11. “What is this thing on the bar counter at work?”

Answer: “It’s an old-fashioned countertop bottle opener.”

12. “Someone brought this into a friend’s antique shop...”

Answer: “That’s the condenser stage from an old enlarger for printing from large format sheet film negatives.”

13. “The object, I believe, is brass. Has 3 little feet and a stamp on the bottom that says ’CELESTE.’”

Answer: This is a lipstick holder.

14. “My partner went to an estate sale and came home with an old tin full of these things.”

Answer: “This is a hook for curtains.”

15. “Porcelain cookware by Maxwell & Williams. What is it?”

Answer: “It’s for escargot.”

What strange objects have you encountered in your life?

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