10 Intriguing Items That Perplex Observers with Their Form and Function

Through time, people have invented several strange-looking devices that serve a great purpose.

However, they don’t always come with instruction manuals when found around the house.

Several Reddit users shared photos of objects they found, hoping someone would identify what it was for. Fortunately, many online have a broad knowledge of devices.

10. Suspended Glass Ball in Metal Frame

At first glance, a delicate glass ball suspended in a gold metal frame looked like a decorative piece in a home office. However, it serves a greater purpose, which one Reddit user unraveled.
Answer: One Reddit user shared much about the device, which was a Cambell-Strokes sunshine recorder. As the commenter added:
“You place a strip of card into one set of grooves in the piece that curves behind the sphere, point the opposite side of the sphere towards the equator, and the sphere will focus the sunlight to burn a track on the card. The card has hours marked, and [the] more the card is burnt, the brighter the sunlight was.”

9. Round Wooden Stick

One Reddit user shared a photo of a long cylindrical wooden stick, which was thicker on one end than the other. It didn’t look like a new device, making the Reddit community think harder when guessing the name and function of the item.
Answer: The wooden stick was likely used with a Singing Bell to make vibrations. According to the commenter, rubbing the cylindrical wood around its edge would make the bell vibrate, similar to a wine glass.

8. Scoopy Doodad

Often, things that are not in use or cannot be identified are kept away in the garage or, in a Reddit user’s case, their junk drawer. The user had no idea what the light metal was for and only received a few comments from people who were just as confused.
Answer: Finally, one person correctly identified the item as a Sunbeam Mixmaster attachment. Supposedly, the item should have been attached to a mixer and used as the sprout the juice would pour out of.

7. Heavy Glass with Bubbles

One Reddit user found a heavy structure made from glass with decorative bubbles inside. The only inscription on the item was the date 1978.
Answer: One commenter identified the object as a weight that keeps papers from flying off a desk. The inscription must have been the year it was made.

6. Vase with Metal Grills

r/whatisthisthing – Found at nan’s house – glass vase with metal grill inside
Gardening enthusiasts would easily identify an object found at a Reddit user’s grandmother’s home. It was a glass bowl with metal grills inside.
Answer: Several Reddit users identified the item as a vase. They commented that it was used for arranging flowers. Many found the object in their grandmother’s home.

5. Mini Blue Disc

One Reddit user found a small blue disc inside a bag of crisps with the inscription “ferrous 25mm BST, cert number 213026B.”
Answer: Although difficult to guess, one Reddit user claimed it was a testing chip used to see if metal detectors worked.

4. Little Magnets

A Reddit user found an item at Goodwill, which sparked curiosity. She described it as “little magnets inside [a small round container] being forced together against their natural magnetic pull.”
Answer: One commenter successfully identified the heavy magnets as a shoplifter’s tag remover, which is used in the retail industry.

3. Retractable Metal Bracelet

A social media user shared what appeared to be a metal circle the size of a soda cap, which could retract into a bracelet. Baffled, the person sought the help of Reddit users to identify the object.
Answer: A quick person from the community identified the object as something used on top of a purse or mini handbag.

2. Metal Circle

A curious Redditor found a weird device in her parents’ kitchen and sought the help of Reddit users to know its use. In what appeared to be a small white tong was a round metal at the center. “The hole gets smaller when I squeeze it,” the poster described.
Answer: The item’s purpose was to remove the corn kernels on a cob. The round metal is the sharpened object that cuts through the corn.

1. Long Twisted Metal

A landlord randomly found a long, twisted, heavy metal in his basement that looked nothing like an item that brought good use. It was described as a “scary wand” by the Reddit user looking to know what the thing was.