16 Mysterious Objects That People Online Were Glad to Identify

Back in the day, when people had a question about anything, they would ask one another or look something up in the encyclopedia. Nowadays, all people have to do is go online and do a search or ask others in public forums and social media. Thankfully, there is always someone somewhere that knows about your question.

1. “Bought a new pair of Nike shoes. Inside the box was this small, plastic bubble, filled with air, and what looks like tiny, colorful micro plastics.”

Answer: I think it is just what you said. Micro plastic particles. Probably to show how Nike helps to clean up our planet. Greenwashing at best.

2. “Pressed my oven’s button and this container thing popped out.”

Answer: “That’s for pouring water into to get steam in the oven.”

3. “Cleaning out my grandma’s house to sell and found this. What is it?”

Answer: “It’s a flour duster. You use it to sprinkle flour across your work surface. You can use it to dust powdered sugar over cookies and whatnot too.”

4. “Woven bamboo object found in an antique shop in Kyoto, Japan. I believe the owner said it had something to do with tea.”

Answer: These are tiny mock versions of what they used to use on riversides to stop erosion. Now they’re mostly just decorations or hashi holders (chopstiick holders, but they have much smaller ones — i have some in my cuppard) so your food-covered hashi doesn’t touch the table. They were called Takejakago.

5. “20 years of research and Reddit is my last hope!”

Answer: “It looks like a fish fossil.”

6. “It looks like a tool to create art — or maybe it is art — I’m not sure.”

Answer: “Looks like an Indian batik or textile stamp. It’s used to print wax onto silk as a dye resist.”

7. “My neighbor had a sink hole in his yard. It’s been dug up and there are 3 chambers. There was a cement slab over all the chambers and at least 6 inch walls all around.”

Answer: Old septic tank.

8. “What is this bubbling out of the ground? It keeps bubbling, even if I dig a thin layer down with a shovel.”

Answer: “It turned out to be from a can of expansion foam the builders had left in the yard. Water got to the can, which rusted and leaked, causing the foam to reach the surface.”

9. “What is this black rubber thing attached to a bungee type cord inside my new ski jacket?”

Answer: It is a phone holder.

10. “A bundle of rubbery sheets found washed up on a beach in the Caribbean”

Answer: “These are rubber sheets from harvesting rubber from rubber trees. They ship them in cubes with a bunch of these.”

11. “Retracting metal spike on a spring, sharp enough to pierce skin.”

Answer: A titanium toothpick.

12. “What is this thing, and what’s it used for?”

Answer: “Bellows to blow on a fire”

13. “What is this thing? It’s wooden and about 6ft tall, found inside Goethe House.”

Answer: Linen press.

14. “About the size of my hand, found in the trash (I’m a trash man.)”

Answer: “A laser-cut ’perpetual’ calendar.”

15. “A weird door I saw in the sea wall in Biarritz, France”

Answer: “I would guess that it is a gate for storm water runoff that drains into the ocean.”

16. “What is this knee wrapping belt I saw on an airplane?”

Answer: It’s a back support.

Did you know any of the items presented above? If so, do you own them or were you just aware of their existence?