21 Odd Looking Things With Simple Explanations

1. Huge metal cylinder found in the middle of the woods (Central Pennsylvania) A: It’s an “upright” tank for fluid storage. Normally 12’ diameter and 20’ tall, they hold 400 barrels of fluid. This one is laid on its side, which is how most are transported.

2. Found hundreds of these on a beach on Brisbane. If I got too close they burrowed under the sand. What are they? A: They are soldier crabs

3. Found in a junk electronics pile. Could it be gold? A: Container looks like a borosilicate glass drying tube, used to protect moisture sensitive reactions from water vapor in the atmosphere. Oxygen, Nitrogen, and CO2 is the gasses used in a in vitro fertilization lab.

4. What is this attachment and why is it round? A: It looks like a circus ball.

5. Seen in an old graveyard. About 9 ft tall. A: It’s a kiln, though weird that it’s in a graveyard.

6. Handmade instrument bought in Germany (70’s-80’s). I wonder it’s traditional item or something made just for decoration A: It’s a Diple. Diple, dvojnice or dvojanke (pluralia tantum), a traditional woodwind musical instrument in Serbian and Croatian music.

7. Found in New England, metal with wood handle. In swampy area near railroad junction. A: It’s a hook to open and close windows

8. This device in a nursing home that appears to be halfway between a sink and a toilet A: Clinical sink, it’s for dumping bedpans.

9. Found in the shop of my brothers new house. Probably obvious to some of you but we can’t figure it out. A: It looks like a speaker floor spike. Or an isolation spike for a turntable, to reduce vibration.

10. Kitchen tool made by winco. No idea what it is A: Shrimp deveiner and opener

11. This is on the nature strip at the end of my street, there’s another one just one street over. Looks like solar panels and a microphone on top of the stick, the case in front is part of this as well. It’s been there for a few days at least. A: Monitoring the noise levels for council/government construction. They did that near my place when they did works on the train crossing, and I saw them in back streets near Vic Park station when they were digging up Hoddle St. They have to temporarily rehouse residents if they’re making over a certain level of noise!

12. Metal post. Found on Fort Knox military base. A: This is a hand pump missing most of it parts

13. Found on one of the doorframes in my 1918 home. Located about two feet off the ground. On both sides of my doorframe in the same design. A: It’s most likely from a baby gate/dog gate leaving a mark behind.

14. Found in a storage cupboard at work. The black bits come out. The number order is … weird? A: Looks like a reference board for a sales. Numbers would line up with a parts list sheet.

15. In It’s A Wonderful Life, what is this thing on Potter’s desk? (circled) A: It looks like a wax stamp set up.

16. Strange Robot Friend Neighbors Trashed After Moving Out A: It could possibly be a display or a piece from a carnival or something, it doesn’t appear to really have any functionality. Either way, I’d grab it.

17. I found this strange thing behind an abandoned house in Mid-Michigan. It’s a weird cone-shaped metal structure with an open inside. A: It seems like a grain hopper repurposed as a charcoal kiln.

18. My mother says this cast iron thing is for pouring oil, but my grandmother says she’s wrong and can’t remember what it’s for. Help? A: It’s called a ladle pot

19. What are chicken lips? My parents found this in the back of a pantry of a house they are house sitting. A: It’s a joke, there is no such thing as chicken lips

20. Friend found this in a bag of antique kitchen tools. Looks like a can opener but it’s pretty thin and completely smooth. A: It’s a handle for a baking rack, grill rack, etc..

21. What sort of utility pole is this? Not for cellular net as there was zero reception right next to it. A: It’s a type of civil defense siren.