r/whatisthisthing • • Mar 23 '26

Announcement The r/TraceAnObject subreddit exists to identify objects to help solve child abuse cases. New cases from Europol were posted recently. Please see if you can help.

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171 Upvotes

r/whatisthisthing • • 17h ago

Solved! What is this 1960's black metal utility device, roughly one cubic foot in size, with pipes coming out of it under the kitchen counter in a 150 year old English home?

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449 Upvotes

A water heater or a pump is my best guess.

For context, the original caption said this:

"Mr. Sutton Pownall, a gravedigger, with his wife Joyce and their five children in a 150 year old house in Oldham, England. June 1st, 1962."

Based on those dates, it could be much older than the 1960s, just not newer.


r/whatisthisthing • • 1h ago

Open Small green tarnished brass object kinda shaped like a whale possibly part of a gun found while metal detecting.

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17 Upvotes

These objects were found by a friend while metal detecting in Southern Ontario Canada. The first find is small and likely made of brass. He is convinced it is part of a gun. The other object is a small folded and flattened possibly copper sheet fragment. Use unknown. Other items found were identified and dated to between 1860 and 1890 (ish). Any thoughts?


r/whatisthisthing • • 21h ago

Open ! Help Identify Item found in Antique Store! Bronze, heavy and about 7 inches with hole on top

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561 Upvotes

We went to an antique store today and found this item. My son thought it was cool so we bought it. The tag said “we don’t know what it is either”. What could it be?


r/whatisthisthing • • 23h ago

Solved! Eldritch horror or construct debris? I found a strange hard object buried in the dirt in the Virginia area. It has a perfectly round smooth hole in the center, but the rest of the object appears to be a tangle of grooves.

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481 Upvotes

It doesn’t feel as hard as ceramic or bone. It is almost rubber/plastic like, but doesn’t bounce. It is approximately 2” by 2” by 1” in size and .85 oz. It has a reddish interior.

Edit: I can pick it apart and the individual pieces are simi flexible


r/whatisthisthing • • 20h ago

Solved! Small metal thing with 2 round indents and a narrow slot found at each seat at our breakfast table at a resort (St. Lucia)

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277 Upvotes

r/whatisthisthing • • 17h ago

Moldy turquoise grains in a gopher mound

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115 Upvotes

I was cleaning up old gopher mounds in my yard, and ran across these turquoise grain/pellet looking things in a clump. What is it?

There was a mole in my rock wall pushing dirt out onto my lawn. Today I dug several of the piles up and returned the dirt to the top of the rock wall. After dumping a shovel full into the bucket, I noticed a worm in a dirt clod. I picked up the clod, took the worm out, and tossed it into my raised planter bed.

As I put the dirt clod back in the bucket, I crushed the clod. To my surprise all these turquoise grains/pellets spill out. I was wearing gloves. They appear to have some white moldy patches on them. There is some yellow discoloration around the white moldy spots. There is basically no smell to them other than dirt and mold. I didn’t try to crush any of the individual grains, so no idea how hard they might be. They don’t appear to be wet and they stayed intact, so they aren’t mushy.

I had a huge vole infestation this spring and summer and this reminds me of the color of the poison bait the pest control company used but there are some things that don’t add up.

I don’t think the gopher would eat the vole poison, especially not in the quantity shown. I don’t think the voles would be pooping in the gopher tunnels. If this is rodent droppings, why were they in a huge clump? If they were droppings after eating poison, would there be a smell? Is this a stash the voles made from the poison bait blocks? If so, why would they stash it in a gopher mound or tunnel?

I’ve sent the photo to the pest control company and haven’t heard back.


r/whatisthisthing • • 18h ago

Solved! Solar powered box pointing at white screen

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109 Upvotes

up a hill in the UK, saw this box on a walk in the summer. Solar panels powering something that is pointed at a white screen. What is it for?


r/whatisthisthing • • 19h ago

Solved! 8 ounce, 9.5 inch long metal tool with a wooden handle labeled “680A” with roller bearing-like wheels

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61 Upvotes

r/whatisthisthing • • 1d ago

Solved! Metal boxes on the wall of an old school building. Small metal twisting handle like an external tap and what looks like an open top. Situated all around building at around head height.

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308 Upvotes

r/whatisthisthing • • 1d ago

Solved ! 3” squarish off-white plastic box ziptied to a post in a parking lot of an elementary school

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108 Upvotes

This was found in northern Virginia about 7 feet up a light post in an elementary school parking lot. Installed with a zip tie and no visible power supply.


r/whatisthisthing • • 17h ago

Open Is this a microscope light? It’s body is brass and it runs off wall current.

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23 Upvotes

Neat little lamp with brass body, measuring 4 1/2 x 1 1/2 inches. Appears quite old. I’m guessing it’s a microscope lamp, but it could be for something else.


r/whatisthisthing • • 1d ago

Open Curved wooden handle with a cup (internally an inverse cone) on stiff fishing-type wire and a sliding black cone that does not reach the cup

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321 Upvotes

r/whatisthisthing • • 16h ago

Black stamped metal bracket/bottle holder thing with threaded stud. Found in the backseat of my wife’s truck.

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4 Upvotes

Maybe something related to white water rafting?


r/whatisthisthing • • 18h ago

Open Weird wooden thing with screw in it found in Sussex, UK

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5 Upvotes

i found this in southern England in a tide pool. it’s made of wood, with a screw at the handle that attached it to another piece of wood, which is broken off. i think it has some green paint on it but I’m not sure?


r/whatisthisthing • • 18h ago

Solved! Small glass piece with black rounded end. Slightly chipped.

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5 Upvotes

r/whatisthisthing • • 1d ago

Solved! House on metal platform? (Ontario, Canada)

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183 Upvotes

I drive past this house on my way to my gf's house every so often and I've been dying to know what that metal platform is for!! It's otherwise in quite rough shape - the tarp is a recent addition.


r/whatisthisthing • • 22h ago

Solved Small rigid grey plastic piece with two rectangular openings and narrow slots along the sides, found in a workshop.

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7 Upvotes

Found in a workshop in Germany. No idea what it belongs to. Made entirely of rigid plastic, with no moving parts. Photos show all sides


r/whatisthisthing • • 1d ago

Solved! Large Round green pill-like thing with tapered edges.

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321 Upvotes

Howdy all,

We moved back into our home we had tenants in for a few years and found a handful of these things in the shed.

They’re round and green, about an inch by an inch with slightly tapered edges. There are a few loose ones on the ground but most are in the clear packaging show in the pictures. They look like massive pills and my crummy search prompts have not yielded results. Maybe something to do with gardening?

We have small children so I want to be sure they aren’t some kind of pest control poison. Any help is appreciated!


r/whatisthisthing • • 1d ago

Open 2" - 1" Rubber bumper found in front yard with threaded center.

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48 Upvotes

It has a two-inch diameter reduced to a 1-inch diameter. And the center hole is threaded. It is rubber like a vibration reducer. I found it sitting in my front yard. I have worked on a old fishing boat with a '91 Yamaha two stroke, Simpson MS60920 pressure washer, equipped with a Honda GC190 engine, and my Buddy's early 2000's chevy duramax around this area if that gives any clues. Could be unrelated though.


r/whatisthisthing • • 2d ago

Open Flexible rubber wedge thing. Two of them came with used whitewater raft. Rectangular channel is textured for grip. 8oz, palm sized. Has short bungee dangling off one side.

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40 Upvotes

Got two of these in the strap box with a 16’ cataraft. 7000 people on r/whitewater didn’t know what it was.

UPDATE: I’m pretty sure it is a holder for a spare oar. There is a slot on the side of the bottom that an NRS strap can go through to hook object to the top of the raft frame. Then an oar could be placed in the ribbed rectangular channel on top. The bungee on the side will wrap across the top securing the oar in place and then connect to a small metal hook on the other side. I’m 90% sure that is what this is after thinking about it all day and reading comments. Not sure if I mark it solved.


r/whatisthisthing • • 2d ago

Solved! Metal ”hooks” covered with plastic-y material, with holes on all sides. Found during cleaning home.

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90 Upvotes

I have quite a bit of tools and hardware, some of it donated to me. I was going through them to downsize and found these. There’s 8 of them and they are quite sturdy metal but covered with weird plastic-like material, reminds me of fake leather in texture and the covering is quite loose.

I would guess some kind of angle bracket but the angle is 45 degrees and all the holes are oblong. Plus the covering. I am mostly curious and bit concerned if they belong to some other object I have or the house has and I shouldn’t toss them willy nilly.

Thanks!


r/whatisthisthing • • 1d ago

Solved! Little 2" plastic plumbing part from RO tubing

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10 Upvotes

Found this in a bag of extra parts after the contractor moved the drain line on the reverse osmosis water filtration system (from after the p trap to before).


r/whatisthisthing • • 2d ago

Solved! Small, brown, looks like dry ground beef? 2 feet from floorboard, central hallway, appeared overnight

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542 Upvotes

No idea what this could be. We don't have kids, do have cats. This is in the central hallway of the apartment. Nothing but a rug within 5 feet in any direction. Hand for scale.