14+ Times The Internet Had To Help Identify Someone's Strange Discovery

Definitely an appropriate find for an old bomb crater, it's an Austria-Hungary Artillery Corp qualification badge. Considering that there hasn't been an Austria-Hungary since the end of WWI more than a century ago, it's a cool find.

Turns out that's not blood, and the symbol provides a cool opportunity to learn about another culture.

It's a kolam, something drawn as part of Tamil new year celebrations, often done in rice flour. The red dot is kumkum powder.

It's like a candle snuffer, but much larger, and it serves a much similar purpose, snuffing out torches back in the days long before electrical or even gas lights.

That beeping always seems to come after a dog barks, and there's a reason for that: The beep is at such a pitch that it's intended to annoy dogs to discourage them from barking.

Apparently these anti-barking devices have been known to make dogs bark even more, so who knows, it might not stay up for very long.

That's...pretty random alright. But in the area where it was located, they're actually somewhat common - it's a mining-heavy area, and those concrete pyramids cap off old mine shafts.

Talk about your specialized tools, this little hammer-looking thing is exactly that, but for katanas.

When you want to fully clean your katana, the pointy end pokes out the wooden peg that holds a blade guard in place, and the hammer end taps it back in when you're ready to put it all back together.

Well, it's not alive now, but it used to be part of something that was alive, as someone identified it as a squirrel's stomach, probably left there by a cat.

Thanks, cat. Eww.

Not a whole lot to go on there, but that didn't hold the community back, as someone was able to identify this as a combination matchbox/candle holder.

Boscowodie should trust their instincts more, because they're spot on - their snail is going to be a mama.

That jeweler would have used this appropriately ornate device to add rivets to their creations; it's a rivet press.

It's a baoding ball, often used in meditation practices, although they typically come as a pair that you twirl around in your hand. This one has clearly been separated from its twin.

It's definitely the sort of thing you want to keep in your workshop and make sure it's installed properly, because it's an anti-kickback safety device for a table saw.

I would sure want to know about a keypad hooked up to my car, too. Reddit user DukeMaximum had the answer: it's a starter disabler.

"Basically, when you buy a car at one of those Buy Here Pay Here lots, they put this on the car. Each week the code changes, and you have to make your payment to get the code, or the car won't start."

Well, it has nothing to do with sewing - it's an ear wax picker. Apparently, there was a time when ear wax would be used to wax thread while sewing? Huh. How about that.

I would have thought some sort of laundry table or changing table, but it's called a secretary table. I suppose there's always a chance a secretary might have ironed some laundry on something like this in the past, though.

I'm guessing some folks on the East Coast nailed this right away - they're scissors for eating seafood, particularly lobster. Why you would have these and not know exactly what they're for is another question entirely.

This is a relic from another time, a device called a Crooke's Butterfly Discharge Tube, which was used to demonstrate the wonders of electricity.

The butterfly was decorated with fluorescent paint that would light up spectacularly when current passed through it.

Turns out they're potato art! Yes, they're decorated potatoes left often at bus stops by an unknown artist. A little strange maybe, but they bring a pop of colour and some fun, so I hope they keep comin',

For how weird and mysterious the gifter was being, it's pretty innocuous. It's a cheese holder, used so you can cut cheese without directly handling the block.

Why yes, this does look like a secret alien base, but it's actually a concentrated solar power plant. Using mirrors, light is reflected towards a tower in the middle, which is then converted to heat energy which drives a heat engine.

Ding ding ding! This user's guess was correct, for this is a Himalayan calendar! The outermost ring displays the month, followed by two rings used to display the day, and the final four rings show the year. This calendar can be used infinitely, as it has the full number range for every year!

While not a shark tooth, it's still pretty cool. It's a quartz vein, hosted in jasper, which is the darker substance at the top. The user who gave this info said there's no harm in her continuing to think it's a shark tooth though, especially if it gets her into learning more about animals or fossils!

This is called a magic square. Magic squares are a mathematical design in which every row and every column adds up to the same number. This one is particularly special though. It's called Chautisa Yantra, and not only do the rows and columns add up to the same number, but so do the diagonals and every subsquare of four!

I don't blame them for being passionate, this is a freaky thing to see. It's a spiny oak-slug caterpillar, but it's carrying the eggs for a parasitic wasp species called the braconid wasp.

While these look like super inefficient brass knuckles, it's actually a physical therapy tool. It's a type of splint to help prevent contracture and skin breakdown in hands following neurological damage.

This user's hopes were realized when told that it is indeed a fossil, but not a standard one like bones or shells. This is a tree trunk impression, likely of a lycopsids, which were giant coal age trees.

Ominous looking and ominous history, this is a WW2 era one-man bomb shelter. Some have been transferred to museums, but some were simply left in place, likely not worth the trouble of transporting.

This looks like it could pass off as strange modern art, but it does have a practical use. The small spiny thing hanging down like a light is a laser sensor, and the rest is just the support needed to get it up there and keep it protected.

No, it's not a weird traffic light, it's a clock! It's a Mengenlehreuhr, or Set Theory Clock. The top circle counts seconds, the first row counts five hours for each light, the second hour counts one hour, the third row counts five minutes, and the bottom row counts one minute. With these instructions, this clock reads 11:41 AM!

What could have lead to scary news about a type of infestation ended up fine. These are seeds used in buckwheat pillows, it's likely the roommate had one and a hole had formed in it.

To me it looks like a very tiny frog, but I'm a little off. This is an exuvia, or exoskeleton, of an insect larvae that was left behind after a molt.

Unfortunately this user didn't win their bet. They're actually really, really far off. This is a hoof pick used to clean horse hooves. I hope you're not using this on your tie.

The key ingredients here are the salt and the vinegar, as well as some copper in the fork - as someone identified, those are what go into making a nice blue-green patina for copper.

That's a vintage snotneus oil lamp, and with a name like that, it's wonder these didn't catch on, isn't it.

Which is definitely not the wrong reaction to finding a pale squishy chunk of something in your drink. One of the drink's ingredients, like the sweetener, xanthan gum, or possibly the milk solids fell out of solution and gelled.

So it's likely harmless, but still not exactly appetizing.