18 Mysterious Objects That Even Their Owners Didn’t Know the Purposes Of

A simple walk in the woods or an area far away from the city can be full of surprises. Or perhaps moving into a new home and taking a look in the basement can reveal a whole new world for you. That’s because there are so many things we know nothing about, and we need somebody’s help to enlighten us.

Now I’ve Seen Everything wants to share these 18 mysterious objects that you might have an answer for as to what they’re actually used for.

1. “It is disk-shaped and at least 10 pounds, and has a rebar-like piece attached at an angle.”

Answer: “This is a snow plow skid shoe.”

2. “Found this on a hike in the Highlands in Scotland. Looks and feels handmade, has a wooden handle, and mesh made of wire.”

Answer: “Fire beaters used to extinguish small fires. Here are some long-handled versions.”

3. “A recessed shelf on my bathroom wall with a hole”

Answer: “A couple of years ago, I fixed up and modernized an old house for a young couple. There was a built-in wall heater that started out as gas but later the burner part was removed and electric guts got put in. I just gutted the thing and put a modern plug in it and left it. Their budget was very low. The old gas wall heaters didn’t have vents. The hole at the bottom would be for the gas line. I have seen a lot of the old gas ones that had an electric insert put in them later on. I have taken out many of them and left the metal liner and put in a modern plug.”

4. “Found this plugged into the wall at my Airbnb...the host says it’s a night light. Can I get some confirmation?”

Answer: “I Googled square nightlights and it looks just like that.”

5. “The glitter swirled on its own when I bought it, seemed like air bubbles pushing it up, but the tube is sealed as far as I can tell.”

Answer: “Looks like it could be part of a night light.”

6. “A weird glass ball, suspended by screws, in a metal frame, bronze or gold color in appearance.”

Answer: “It’s a Campbell-Stokes sunshine recorder. 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 toward 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.”

7. “A kitchen utensil with a wooden handle attached to a round metal cup with 3 spikes (with holes in it)”

Answer: “It’s a funnel for making a Portuguese sweet called fios de ovos or egg threads.”

8. “Found an instrument at Goodwill, any idea what it is?”

Answer: “It’s a door harp. It goes on the door and ’chimes’ when people come in, as long as it isn’t tangled.”

9. “A 1950s house has these planks that pull out of the bedroom wardrobe.”

Answer: “It definitely looks like the supports on a secretary desk. This one may have had the hinged top removed, or it was a modular desktop.”

10. “What is this hinged wooden box with a sliding lid?”

Answer: “It’s an old school pencil case. I had one as a kid.”

11. “A curved metal piece with an attached leather strap”

Answer: “It’s an arm blaster.”

12. “It’s made of plastic, but the red part is just plain, woven fabric. The cover opens up and the back has an arrow.”

Answer: “It’s used for taking lint off your clothes.”

13. “There are no markings or numbers on it. It’s made of plastic and metal. The metal part screws into the handle.”

Answer: “It’s a watch band pin remover.”

14. “What’s this ferrous metal sphere with a cutout? There were about 100 at a scrapyard.”

Answer: “Looks like an SMR target that wasn’t polished.”

15. “What is this oddly burned log I found at a campsite?”

Answer: “This is a Swedish torch and it burns longer than firing a log onto a fire.”

16. “What is this folding hook I found?”

Answer: “Folding button hook”

17. “A large machine connected to a school building with a barrel underneath it”

Answer: “It’s a dust collection system, probably coming out of the wood shop.”

18. “What is this ice phenomenon I found on the forest floor today?”

Answer: “The term for it is ’frost flower’ and has to do with moisture freezing as it escapes plant tissue.”

Have you ever discovered an item that made you scratch your head for days before someone told you what its purpose was?