17 Things Whose Purpose Is Beyond Understanding, Even at Second Glance

Imagination is so powerful, it is even capable of creating objects so unique that not everyone can understand what they are for. Nature is not far behind and also shows its inventiveness in, for example, plants that are common to some and a mystery to others. Fortunately, there is no need to hire detectives to find out what we have in front of us.

At Bright Side, we made a new selection of strange finds whose purposes people wanted to discover. Maybe you can guess what they are before you look at the answers.

1. “Cleaning out my grandma’s house to sell and found this. What is it?”

Answer: “It’s a flour duster. You use it to sprinkle flour across your work surface. You can use it to dust powdered sugar over cookies and whatnot too.”

2. “White porcelain with decorative gold paint lines. The middle dips down and there are handles on both ends.”

Answer: “It’s a silverware holder.”

3. “What kind of pan is this, and what is it used for?”

Answer: “It allows you to pour off liquids without the stuff you’re cooking to block the spout.”

4. “It looks like a tool to create art — or maybe it is art — I’m not sure.”

Answer: “Looks like an Indian batik or textile stamp. It’s used to print wax onto silk as a dye resist.”

5. “A bundle of rubbery sheets found washed up on a beach in the Caribbean”

Answer: “These are rubber sheets from harvesting rubber from rubber trees. They ship them in cubes with a bunch of these.”

6. “I was given a present.”

Answer: “It’s a bookmark. The long flat (wiggly) part goes between the pages, hooks over the top, and the charm then hangs over the spine.”

7. “20 years of research and Reddit is my last hope!”

Answer: “It looks like a fish fossil.”

8. “What is this thing, and what’s it used for?”

Answer: “Bellows to blow on a fire”

9. “It looks to be a very small concrete bench or seat facing away from the road near the curb. Too small for a child.”

Answer: “They could be old carriage steps, used to help people get into and out of horse-drawn carriages.”

10. “Given by a neighbor who doesn’t speak English and I don’t speak Chinese.”

Answer: “This is called Zizania latifolia. You can cut it into slices and stir-fry for a minute or so, then cook with some soy sauce until the flavor goes in a bit. It has a nice unique texture, firmer than zucchini.”

11. “Pressed my oven’s button and this container thing popped out.”

Answer: “That’s for pouring water into to get steam in the oven.”

12. “About the size of my hand, found in the trash (I’m a trash man.)”

Answer: “A laser-cut ’perpetual’ calendar.”

13. “What is this thing? The part above the handle rotates.”

Answer: “It’s a kite spindle. I used to have one.”

14. “Metal spring with plastic ends, 20 cm long, no writing or markings”

Answer: “It’s a hair remover used for little hairs on one’s face.”

15. “What is this bubbling out of the ground? It keeps bubbling, even if I dig a thin layer down with a shovel.”

Answer: “It turned out to be from a can of expansion foam the builders had left in the yard. Water got to the can, which rusted and leaked, causing the foam to reach the surface.”

16. “A weird door I saw in the sea wall in Biarritz, France”

Answer: “I would guess that it is a gate for storm water runoff that drains into the ocean.”

17. “The base is concrete and very sturdy. It’s about 15 feet high and has metal fins along the inside of it.”

Answer: “A possible bat house”

What object do you keep at home that guests always ask what it is, and why do you think they do?