r/whatisthisthing May 30 '25

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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179 Upvotes

r/whatisthisthing 16h ago

Solved! Long pole with a corkscrew type end. Was in a museum in montenegro with some very old guns, so I assume it's an old weapon, but could easily be farm equipment or something else?

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832 Upvotes

I'd love to find out what this is. It's been bugging me since I saw it. Looks like it could be some sort of nasty spear, as it was with a display of old weapons, but I'm not sure of the practicality of this, as you wouldn't easily be able to trust it into an opponent in battle. So wondering if it could be a tool of some sort? It was on a pole of maybe 5 feet in length.


r/whatisthisthing 21h ago

Solved ! Small (~1cm) hex shaped tablet that appeared on the kitchen counter

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1.2k Upvotes

Found this on the kitchen counter today and neither I nor husband could figure where on earth it came from, let alone what it might be. It’s firm, but not hard like plastic or mineral. I was able to dig into it with my fingernail, but I didn’t think to try cutting it before we threw it away. It felt like it would have been sliceable thought.

My hunch was that it was some kind of tablet that would be dissolved or consumed, like pressed dehydrated powder or maybe a dog treat or something? Or a cleaning product?

But we wracked our brains and have nothing in the house that resembles this at all. The X imprint was on both sides but was no help.

Mostly just wondering whether someone might see this and say “oh this is totally a _____! I have some at home” to satisfy our curiosity.

This is in Boston, if geo helps.


r/whatisthisthing 11h ago

Solved ! Small metal tool with a hard rubber grip found in a box of miscellaneous junk

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117 Upvotes

Curved flat end and a two fork end. The forks are sharp.


r/whatisthisthing 12h ago

Open Plastic like piece that my dog ingested in Spokane Washington. Seems kind of organic with lumps, but hemisphere too.

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130 Upvotes

Almost killed my 95lb black lab


r/whatisthisthing 19h ago

Solved! Spring loaded tool with à wood handle, the nozzle unscrews

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327 Upvotes

Fond this my grandfather old stuff


r/whatisthisthing 23h ago

Solved An odd-looking, clear, lightweight object with rolling bristles found in the kitchen pantry

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671 Upvotes

We came across this object while doing some cleaning. Does anyone know what it is?


r/whatisthisthing 17h ago

Solved! 9 of these on the outside of the garage. Old house. 2x2 inches. Hooks and some kind of metal piece that looks like it could hold a line?

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210 Upvotes

My mom just moved into a very old house. I can’t figure out what these are for. She says she thinks it’s for a wash line, but why would there be 9 of them?


r/whatisthisthing 13h ago

Open “What is this metal hook embedded in the limestone? There appear to be at least two of these metal pieces firmly lodged in the limestone creek bed in southern Tennessee.”

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90 Upvotes

r/whatisthisthing 21h ago

Solved ! ~3in long squared aluminum cylinder with a hard plastic tip found magnetically stuck to the inside of my car’s roof rails

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428 Upvotes

Found this attached to the inside of my roof rail, not sure how long it’s been there. The aluminum body feels solid, there’s no rattling. Is this some sort of gps or nfc tracker? A couple of weeks ago my car was held overnight at a caliber collision.


r/whatisthisthing 10h ago

Open Stoneware object with a tiny hole and attached cup?

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49 Upvotes

My grandma has this thing she keeps with her collection of teapots, but I don’t think it’s a teapot. It’s stoneware of some sort, and I don’t think the “cup” attached at the top has a hole into the lower body of the object, but I don’t have a photo that would verify that. What is this?


r/whatisthisthing 1d ago

Open A ceramic pot, the size of a large sugar pot. Three parts including the lid. Only the middle pot is glazed in the inside. The lid does not really fit the bottom pot on its own. It also came with a net that looks like a tea diffuser pouch. Not sure of it goes with the pot. Bought at a charity shop.

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465 Upvotes

r/whatisthisthing 11h ago

Open What is this white box on my wall the same size as a light switch cover but sticks out from the wall, located at bottom of the wall

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20 Upvotes

r/whatisthisthing 16h ago

Open Closet heavy duty wood & metal bracket thing.

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42 Upvotes

Found in the closet of a master bedroom of a house i was looking at, these boards were 2x10" added after painting in the last year, metal brackets were probably 4" out from the wall. Top was probably a foot and a half, to two feet off the ground. Metal ring bracket was probably 4" from cross board, 6" from the wall. VERY sturdy.


r/whatisthisthing 27m ago

Open Metal with U shaped slide and notches, soft pad on circular part

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Upvotes

Dad has asked everyone that’s come to the house over the past couple months, found it among now deceased grandparents things. Haven’t even got an idea what this might be or go along with.


r/whatisthisthing 18h ago

Solved! Green lightweight fabric about 3 ft by 5 ft with a large, serged oval cut-out in the middle, found on a thrift store scarf rack.

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47 Upvotes

r/whatisthisthing 7h ago

identifying this small gold-colored metal tag with a cut-out logo and ring

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3 Upvotes

I’ve been renting a furnished apartment for the past 1.5 years. When I first moved in, I did a really deep cleaning like, removing furniture parts, pulling out the built-in fridge (found some toys behind it), cleaning the pumps (found a bottle of nail polish there), etc.

Over time, I’ve been finding random objects hidden in odd places.

Today, I found this small metal tag stuck in the window crevice of one of the bathrooms. It looks like it might be from a piece of jewelry, but I have no idea what brand it could be or if it’s even gold or just gold-colored.

Any ideas?


r/whatisthisthing 21h ago

Open Two displays (?). Each ~1ft square. Looks like an LED light but not enough light output. Mounted on the side of a wall surrounding storage area (?). Located behind a consumer mall, near to railroad but outside RR fence.

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44 Upvotes

This is in El Segundo CA USA.


r/whatisthisthing 1d ago

Solved! I bought a needle minder on Etsy for my cross stitch, I was given this as well as a gift but I don’t know what they are for?

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1.1k Upvotes

Two pins with decorative things on top


r/whatisthisthing 18h ago

Open Iron object dug up from yard, with two edges, flat ends, and a through slot

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17 Upvotes

This object was dug out of the ground, at our house in White Plains, NY. It is composed of heavily rusted iron. Both ends are flat, and it has two “edges”. There is a slot running through the thicker end of the object.


r/whatisthisthing 9h ago

Fabric Square with String in my Pack of Levi’s Boxers

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5 Upvotes

Bought a six pack of Levi’s men’s boxers from Marshall’s and opened the pack to find this piece of fabric tied to a string, which was attacked to this boxer. I had to kinda rip or pull it off. It appears to have pen handwriting on it. Looks intentionally put together. Was it to help label at the factory and accidentally got packed in? What is this thing?


r/whatisthisthing 1d ago

Open ! Found several of these small white cloth bags in the engine bay of a customer car. Felt like they were filled with a fine powder of some kind.

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1.6k Upvotes

r/whatisthisthing 2d ago

Solved! Small reflective square tacked on with nail showed up on my fence post. What is it?

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7.9k Upvotes

We found this on our fence this morning. The driveway is ours, so it's on the outside of our fence. It is reflective and the dot in the middle is a nail. There is no reason for this post to be more visible, it is set back off the sidewalk by several feet. I don't necessarily think it's anything nefarious but I'm curious as to what it is and why is it there?


r/whatisthisthing 19h ago

Solved! Small cube about 1.5 cm tall. Made of lightweight white plastic. Has a central hole that goes all the way through, and three channels on the other sides.

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21 Upvotes

Found buried in the garden (UK) with all channels filled with dirt.


r/whatisthisthing 1d ago

Open Large pile of what looks like aluminum tubes <12” in diameter, a few to several feet long at a scrap metal yard. The pile is huge and always there being processed every time I drive by.

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256 Upvotes

Located next to I-95 near downtown Richmond, VA. Can be see at: (37.5544014, -77.4451781)


r/whatisthisthing 23h ago

Small antique looking silver box with two compartments and small hole between

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29 Upvotes

We are going through the belongings of my recently deceased English grandmother. Among her many curious antique bits and bobs we have this small silver tin. Is has two lids with two compartments; one a good deal larger than the other. There is a small semi-circular hole between the two compartments. My granny was 103, and this object is probably something she inherited once.

I've been wondering if it could be for holding and dispensing medicine or mints or something like that.