23 Mysterious Things That Were Solved by Strangers on the Internet

While you might spend weeks baffled about some weird objects you’ve come across, trying to figure out their purpose, for some Reddit users solving these mysteries was a piece of cake. Whether it’s an unusual thing bubbling from the ground in your garden or suspicious white dots on a gummy bear you just bought, don’t worry, they most likely have the right answer for it.

We at Bright Side found even more mysterious things with a purpose that is hard to crack. And here are 23 of the most unusual ones.

1. A small blue plastic thing I found in the house. What is it?

Answer: I have this exact thing. It’s the antennae from a snail toy.

2. My neighbors put this facing our garden. We hope it’s not a camera.

Answer 1: It’s a cat repeller.
Answer 2: No, it’s not a cat repeller. I saw my uncle use it to ward off insects.

3. Found this in my corn flakes. Has somewhat of a chalky smell and texture and leaves a powdery residue when dropped on my table.

Answer: “It’s a vitamin speck. Basically, this was a baked-together chunk of all of the vitamins and minerals they fortify cereal with, so nothing harmful.”

4. What is this bubbling out of the ground in my yard? Purplish metallic, gooey inside. Keeps bubbling even if I dig a thin layer down with a shovel.

Answer: “Carpenter here, that looks to me like expanding foam. The manufacturers like to color them for brand recognition or purpose identification. All the signs are there. The even coloration, the outer skin that formed, and the familiar random expansion pattern.”

5. What is this metal object, roughly the size of a hand, guessing it’s around 700-800 grams?

Answer: “It’s an artificial hip replacement.”

6. A hand-carved marble cup. It’s at least 110 years old. I was told these were found on the desks of wealthy men. What is it?

Answer: “I don’t think it’s marble and I don’t think it’s particularly old or valuable. It’s probably an Indian incense burner, made of soapstone.”

7. What is this gray cylindrical object mounted on the back of my house for?

Answer: “It’s a Verizon 4G home fusion unit.”

8. This large, ceramic, turquoise fire hydrant-looking thing has been in the family for decades. Resembles some sort of large lantern, but still unsure.

Answer: “I believe it’s a small heater, probably gas. Mostly decorative to protect people from the flame.”

9. Wooden block with 2 screws and a spring in between. What is it for?

Answer: “It’s a guitar pick holder.”

10. What is this large wooden board with movable red and white beads on the rim?

Answer: “It’s called a Billard Nicolas. It appears to be a French game of some sort.”

11. Serrated scraping tool found in the basement of a house. What is it for?

Answer: “It is a tool for opening windows that have been painted shut, called a ’window zipper.’”

12. A tool found on a family farm. Looks too small for a hog to fit through. It looks like there was text on the box, but we can’t make out what it said.

Answer: “It’s an applicator for livestock fly spray. They make these for cows to itch their face on.”

13. What is this small white gelatinous rectangle that fell out of my washed laundry on its way to the dryer? It has no smell.

Answer: “It’s an Icy Hot patch, the sort where you ‘snap’ the plastic backing off. Probably transferred from someone’s skin to clothes, then came off in the laundry.”

14. Pink golf ball wand... what could it be? About 2 feet long with a rubber golf ball at the end of the spring. Any guesses?

Answer: “It’s a spring ball massager.”

15. One side is an opener, but what is this 3-pronged clamp for?

Answer: “It’s for lifting the lid on Mason jars.”

16. Spherical object full of holes found at a beach in the UK. Hard and not plastic. Is it a fossil?

Answer: “Not a fossil. Just a bleached-out coral.”

17. Little pink spring thing. Made of rubber. With little space inside, not apt to hold a pencil or anything inside it.

Answer: “It wraps around phone and headphone cords by the plug to prevent them from breaking and fraying.”

18. Grid of small indents found at the beach, east coast of Scotland. No other related objects laying near it.

Answer: “This is a nice Stigmaria or a tree root fossil. The circles are scars where rootlets used to be attached to the main roots in spiral patterns.”

19. Found in a forest in Sweden, about 1 m from the ground. Hard to the touch, but drips liquid when knocked.

Answer: “It’s a polypore fungus that is exuding excess moisture, called guttation.”

20. A hard, pale orange object the size of a pea seed with a grooved or notched surface. Found in the soil in a garden/field.

Answer: “It’s a dried pea.”

21. What is this chicken-heart wire object with a handle?

Answer: “It’s a modern decoration made in the style of an old Rug Beater.”

22. What are these hard white bumps on the outside of this gummy bear? No bumps appear inside the bear.

Answer: “The mold they use to pour the gummy bears into is made of cornstarch, sometimes there is a residue left on the gummies. They usually pull these off the line, this one must have made it through QC.”

23. Found this tool at a former antique collector. What is it?

Answer: ’’My mom had these to get laundry out of a Peggy tub and then an old-fashioned top loading washing machine! She had them from being married in the ’40s!’’

Do you have any unidentified objects? If you do, share them with us in the comments. Maybe Bright Siders can help figure out what they are.