45 Times People Needed Assistance Figuring Out What Something Was, And Netizens Were There To Help

Have you ever come across something so weird and uncanny that you turned to the Internet for answers? Sometimes, we depend on our parents to answer senseless questions because we assume they have “seen the world,” so they most likely know how to respond as they always do, right? But when family and friends are as utterly clueless as we are, the Internet is our last resort. It’s a fact that this fascinating world is filled with strange items and deals with odd situations on a daily basis, and sometimes, we need help figure out what the heck is going on! And internet strangers rarely disappoint us! On top of that, when these people take time out of their busy schedules to answer us with complete details, that’s when our faith in humanity is restored. We found 45 of the most interesting instances where people posted bizarre items or situations for people to express their opinions. And let us tell you, the Internet didn’t disappoint!!

A worry doll

Wait, what exactly are we seeing? It looks like those dolls that people make out of either sticks or straws. Apparently, this is not just a straw doll or stick man. The Internet claims that it’s called a “worry doll.” And the idea behind it is kind of superstitious.

We are supposed to confess our worries to this doll at night and put it under our pillow before going to sleep. It plagues our fears and keeps them at bay. Our question is, how is this one-centimeter-tall doll going to handle our baggage? Shouldn’t it be, like, bigger?

A mysterious fossil

When we think of the word ‘fossils,’ our minds jump to those rocks and bones buried deep under the Warth’s many layers. We definitely don’t expect to see fossils lying around on our front porch in broad daylight on a random morning now, do we?

But this guy found a mysterious rock with intricate symmetrical patterns on the porch of his new home and asked the Internet if it was a fossil. And the answer he got was an affirmative yes. It’s a rock with a tree trunk impression on it, and it is indeed a type of fossil! 

Spidery things

We can assure you that we, too, would be freaking out if we saw this hanging somewhere in our house. This person’s mom isn’t alone on this one because it is super creepy. It looks like a frozen spider or a snowball with icicles.

By turning to the Internet for help, this guy discovered that it is a spider! Well, it was before it got a fungus infection and passed away. These are its remains wrapped in a white coffin made of white fungi hanging upside down. We hope the poor spider didn’t suffer, though.

Uncanny coincidence

We all like connecting dots even when there is no connection. It’s human nature, we guess, to put two and two together to make sense out of things that we can’t fully grasp or understand. Our minds fill in the gaps somehow.

This guy’s mind did just that when he found a round sticker of partridge and a fig tree on the cover of a borrowed Bible, seeing the Biblical significance of both. But the Internet surprised him with the fact that this sticker was a symbol for “no bush, no quail” in the 1992 elections!

Possible space debris

When we said that the Internet knows everything, we were 99% sure about this. But when you see things like this, even answers coming from the netizens are mere guesses from the people behind the screen. And we are bound to accept them until a logical explanation comes forth.

For instance, this guy found this unearthly metal object lying on a white sand beach. Well, it didn’t take much for the Internet to convince us that this object is a titanium sphere that landed on earth from space! Well, it does look like Ben 10’s Omnitrix space shuttle.

The beauty of nature

We promise it is not as strange as it looks. We didn’t know what this was either until a few nature-loving internet people told us that this isn’t some wildly weird thing; it’s only two red slugs mating. It’s the beauty of mother nature.

If we actually spent a lot of time in the woods, we wouldn’t find this weird. Every species on the planet has a different way of mating, and there’s nothing odd about it. For first-timers, though, you surely wouldn’t know what you’re looking at if you were to stumble upon this!

Disgusting and concerning

When we go out to eat in a restaurant, we all take a chance of possibly contracting food poisoning. You never truly know what’s happening in the kitchen behind closed doors. The food that is eventually served on the plate is not always an accurate representation of what is going on on the inside.

People find all kinds of unpleasant – more like, gross – things in their food such as hair, nails, insects, rat feces, and, well, in this case, insect eggs! Could that be any more disgusting? We bet the couple didn’t go back to that place ever again!

Shade from the old days

Before electric ceiling fans existed, did people just deal with the sweltering hot summers by shading themselves, or did they just not care about being hot? Well, they actually had their own methods to deal with the blazing heat!

Before ceiling fans were invented, these huge curtains hung from the ceiling with a rope and a possible pulley system to manually operate “the fan.” Wealthy folks had the luxury to build this contraception in their homes to help them cool off.

The “Bubble”

You might have seen this “bubble” on top of cars in some classic 80 or 90s movies. We don’t know if you do, but we remember this bubble car in Mr. Bean. But we didn’t know the real purpose behind it until the Internet came to the rescue.

So, apparently, this particular bubble on this car is modified. But in the past, a cab company started the trend and called it “Bubbl Uber.” The purpose of this bubble was geared towards children to ensure the safety of the children and the Uber driver.

Anti-ligature

Those who don’t know (we are one of them, too) may think of this next object as a weird old-fashioned coat hanger, an old switch for lights, or any other electronic object. You may even think of this as some espresso maker of ancient times.

But none of those guesses are true. This is an anti-ligature! This is primarily used in hospitals, psychiatric institutes, or asylums. It is a preventive measure for individuals who may induce self-harm by attaching themselves to it so they can’t do anything.

Special bunnies

If we were to see this… odd-looking animal roaming around a zoo or animal enclosure, we’d directly ask for help from the Internet. We don’t think our parents would be able to name this odd but cute-looking rabbit-animal either.

So apparently, this animal is not a cousin of the rabbit or capybara; it’s a mix of both, as you can see. Internet animal lovers call it Patagonian Cavy. This is the first time we’ve heard of this strange yet remarkably cute creature! 

Well, that was close

Imagine coming home after a long day and finding an unusual metal thing sticking out from the lock on your main door. You would instantly be suspicious. This weird thing will give you the creeps, not to mention the number of questions that will fill your mind when you see it.

The Internet saved the day when this guy posted this picture of the thin metal rod. Apparently, it’s a tension wrench from a lock-pick set! This guy was fortunate that whoever tried to break into his house eventually gave up. They accidentally left the proof of their failure behind!

Eldritch horrors

If you think that this thing looks freakish, wait until you learn about what it really is and what purpose it serves. No, it’s not just a random thing. It’s a real parasite. Considering how disturbing it is, you’ve probably heard about it even if you’ve never seen one.

This person found this in a fish’s mouth where this freaky parasite resides. So, for those who don’t know, this parasite eats a fish’s tongue and replaces it with itself. So, when the fish eats something, the parasite ingests it instead of the fish! 

A particular headlight bezel

Police may stumble upon weird objects at the scene of an accident. During an investigation, some things can only be identified by professionals due to their wide range of expertise. However, this guy on the Internet recognized this thing through the picture!

He has experience in law enforcement which proved worthy when he determined what the object was. It’s a 1988 Chevy Silverado headlight bezel! Luckily, this state inspector, to be more specific, has years of experience adjusting headlights, so he knew what it was immediately!

A literal missile

This image of explosive ammunition lying around in a server room reminds us of this meme that says, “You had one job!” Imagine walking in a server room and finding ammunition sitting right there in front of you like it’s a present waiting to be opened.

This server room probably may have been a space where Russians housed explosives until they moved out and cleared out the room. But accidentally or on purpose, we don’t know, someone left this Russian missile behind. Maybe it was meant to be a lovely sentiment for the server room managers.

Concentrated thermal solar

As far as our imagination goes, and as much as we’d like it to be true, this is sadly not an alien space shuttle or UFO. This is a man-made flat plate-like object floating in the air, controlled by people on the ground. 

According to the engineers on the Internet, this shiny, silver metal plate is a power source for running steam engines! We’ll tell you how: this shiny mirror reflects light directly onto the tower that heats up, and this source of heat turns the steam engine machines.

The sync stop

If you’re not a tech master, you probably would consider this as spam and trash it without even thinking of asking those who make the world go round these days: the techies. This guy was smart enough to turn to the Internet before thinking that this USB was useless.

This thing is called a charging barrier, also known as a sync stop. You can tell from its name that it allows you to plug devices into any USB port but doesn’t transfer your files unless you click “okay.” If you only want to charge a device, this little gadget is the one for you.

A mysterious cloud

When our weather forecast says it’s clear today, but we see this cloud-like thing up in the sky, we may make it an excuse to be a little bit late for work because “it might rain.” Unfortunately, this is not a cloud. Or, for that matter, anything close to it.

According to some people on the Internet, a rocket launch made this from its exhaust by spinning in circles. We aren’t entirely sure if this answer is correct, though. Don’t rockets launch in one straight, upward direction? Maybe it was the aftermath of an aircraft doing plane stunts in the air!

Fire brigade training draft

You may think this next machine is a historical artifact used in battles by the army in world wars or something along those lines. But it’s far from that. First, it is not historical or old. And secondly, the army does not use it for combat.

It’s a mockup plane for fire brigades to practice! You didn’t see that coming, did you? So as per the internet smarties, this plane is used by the fire brigade officers for training purposes in case a real plane emergency happens, and they need to save lives.

An old Gibson

Our grandparents used to own a lot of things that people don’t use anymore and are considered historical. This is no offense to our grandparents, of course. But this is how the world works. Even the things they used in their daily lives may be valuable enough to put in a museum because of their rarity.

Just like this odd-looking musical instrument a person found that belonged to their grandpa. This may look like a banjo or a type of sitar, but it’s actually called “the old Gibson.” According to the oldies and history students on the Internet, it’s a prized possession because manufacturers stopped making these in 1933!

Old school windows

If you are also wondering why these windows look like this, the Internet has all the answers. We know that they look warped like the glass melted due to the scorching heat in summer or something, but it’s actually made this way on purpose.

In the past, window makers used to spin glass on a flat surface, and these spiral-like designs are the center of the spin itself! The answer to why they did it, well, it was the idea of privacy that led to making windows like these because it’s difficult to see through them?

Rare currency from the past

For those who sleep through their history classes, here’s a small history fact for you: there was a time when Japan occupied the Philippines. And this currency that you see right here is from that time. The Internet told you this because you might be confused.

This is because the words ‘Japanese Government’ and ‘Pesos’ are on the same note. Well, you got your answer! But the amount on it, i.e., 5 pesos, may be worth so much more now because that’s how rare this bill has become!

Just a cloud

Again, these are not some alien dimensions up in the sky. These are real clouds. You may never remember seeing ones like these! That’s because, according to meteorologists or weather enthusiasts on the Internet, these clouds are called lenticular clouds.

But they aren’t as rare as you think. These pretty things up in the sky show up as normal as any other type of cloud. But the difference comes when these clouds are hidden behind the other clouds because of their structure and the way the sun hits them.

Left behind microchips

Ah, another weird object someone found in their food; we’re not sure if we want to know about this even though it’s probably important for our health. Sure, it’s not as gross as worms or something organic like hair or insect eggs, but we still shouldn’t see it show up in our food!

If your imagination is running wild, you may think of it as a metal chip someone deliberately places in this person’s food. Sorry to ruin your thought process, but the Internet says that these chips are placed in pigs to keep track of them. In this case, it obviously was overlooked.

Lovecraftian nightmare

Well, suffice to say that the purpose of this thing is clear, i.e., it scared the living soul out of the person seeing it, as well as us! Just like all of you, we thought it was some sort of weird, poisonous sea creature, or even worse, a monster spider!

As much as the arms make it look like a creepy spider or monster from the depths of the sea, the Internet says that it’s only a caterpillar! But it’s not a regular one, though. It’s a Hag Moth caterpillar, and its false arms are supposed to look like leaves for camouflage.

Intentional avalanche starter

Yes, these are human-made, and we assume already that these are sitting high between the mountains and not on the ground in a random town because these are technically avalanche starters. Believe it or not, humans, for some reason, feel the need to start an avalanche sometimes.

And these huge pipes are part of the manufactured avalanche system. Scientists use gasses to create controlled explosions high up in the mountains where there are no people around. They probably do these drills for testing purposes, we assume. 

Going to the movies

We are all curious as to how a movie is made, right? How the set is created, the cameras involved, the talented crew, the filming process, the crazy stunts, and everything else that we missed. Most of us even watch behind-the-scenes footage of films we may love just for fun.

So, one of these movie nerds told this person that this contraption is used for holding a camera during a movie, especially during the fast-paced scenes when the actors are running, or vehicles are speeding. But apparently, this neighbor didn’t want to go through the hassle of taking it off.

Worse than expected

What’s this black stuff, you ask? Well, neither the Internet nor we are entirely sure, but one thing we know about this is that it doesn’t look good because it’s a possible termite infestation. And if you don’t regularly spray your entire house, then we don’t suggest waiting around to see the consequences.

The thing we aren’t sure about is if the black build-up is the termites themselves or if it is just the damage they’ve caused to the house. It’s probably because this area of the house remains damp most of the time, and termites feed off damp walls and wood. 

Nothing that special

Pictures of earth from space include all sorts of fascinating features that we sometimes can’t really tell what we are looking at. And sometimes, we detect something cool, but most of the time, little black spots in the picture may be seen on the earth that are nothing too significant.

So, before jumping to conclusions and getting excited thinking that you discovered something super cool, make sure your camera isn’t fooling you. The Internet says that the black thing above is just an island called New Caledonia. That’s all!

Clever mug design

Okay, this is an object we should all know about. It’s a very basic thing that serves a very great purpose. It may not look like much, and most of us often overlook it thinking that it’s for aesthetics. But it’s far from that, we assure you.

The little divet on the bottom of the mug keeps the water from pooling on the top of it while it’s in the dishwasher. It’s a drainage system! And secondly, when your drink is too hot or too cold, these little holes keep it from suctioning itself to the coaster or table when it’s wet.

Indications of pests

We expel what we eat after some time, right? The same goes for animals and insects. They eat up your stuff and leave their excretions all around your house, yet you don’t even notice most of the time. But there is one parasite whose droppings are extremely visible.

If you see these grainy things in your house somewhere, just know that you have termites somewhere doing their deed, i.e., eating up and damaging the walls of your house because these are termites’ feces! These parasites leave their poop in massive bunches!

The emergency showers

These may look like street lamps, headlights, or whatever you want to call them, but you are very wrong about them. These are far from lamps. You find these in a hospital only. Why is that? Because they serve a purpose there.

Internet smarties who told us what these are have either been patients or the workers in a hospital; that’s probably why they are familiar with them. These are emergency showers for the people who have been exposed to some dangerous chemicals or gasses before they are taken in for treatment!

Pieces of a rocket

Beaches are often the areas where space junk ends up because they are vast, open areas. The chances that the space debris that falls in them to wash up on the shore is high. That’s probably why people often find weird-looking things there.

This guy found a suspicious, UFO look-alike metal object on the beach. We assure you it’s nothing as cool as that. It’s simply rocket junk whose launch failed, and the debris landed on the beach in Guam. So much for the cool discovery!

Alligator farms

Okay, who knew there were alligator farms on the planet? Yes, real alligators. It’s not just the name of some random farm. They’re made by humans, specially for alligators. Considering that alligators are special food in some areas, this might explain why they exist.

We’re not sure why they are so curvy, but it might be because of the aesthetics. That’s the only logic we can think of, and the Internet isn’t very helpful in this case either. Well, at least now we won’t jump into a weird curvy lake without thinking twice!

A river dweller

Our worst fear? Seeing weird things like this while we are chilling in a river, lake, or ocean. When we say we don’t like to swim in natural water bodies, it’s because of things like these that are weird, long, spiky, and not very friendly-looking.

When we don’t know what it is, we get out of the water immediately! If it’s a plant, animal, or sea monster, we turn to the Internet to tell us if it’s going to sting us with its long pointy tail. It turns out that this species is called Bryozoa, and it’s a moss animal! Not some plant floating around!

Ye Olde Fridge

If we are out and about in the woods and we stumble upon this, we are turning around immediately. Our imagination starts running wild when we see horror stuff like this. If it wasn’t for the Internet, we’d still be thinking that it’s some haunted room used for ritualistic practices.

But since we have the luxury of the Internet to tell us what’s up, people are smart enough to tell us that it’s a fridge! Before modern fridges, people used to build up a storeroom in woods with mud and dirt around to keep the heat out, which kept the stored food cool.

Creepy, but good

Have you ever thought that insects and other creepy crawlies could be a good sign? Well, until the Internet told us so, we didn’t think so either. Because when it comes to insects floating in something, we get the heebie-jeebies.

But apparently, Stonefly Larvae, which is found in water, ensures that the water is drinkable and is of good quality! Despite how weird this tiny insect looks, we are going to believe the Internet because…well, what else are we supposed to do?

Termites again!

If you hear your floorboards squeaking more than usual, or if you see black, brown, or dark yellow-ish stuff lining your walls, ceilings, and cupboards, then chances are that its termites invading your house, and they’re keeping themselves busy!

And by busy, we mean eating up your house. In this photo, termites are taking an entire piece of a wall somewhere by climbing through the ceiling! It’s just nasty. The damage that they can do to your house in a small matter of time is mind-boggling.

Grind guards

When it comes to cemented walls, stairwells, and railings, skaters act like they hit the jackpot. And most people don’t like it when random people turn their stairs into a skating park or hang-out spot. So, people came up with a solution.

They install grind guards: round metal plates attached to the wall and railings with even intervals of space between them. It works pretty well because it saves the people skating from injuring themselves and keeps the property from getting damaged.

Underwater, overwater

How rare is it for people to randomly come across explosives lying around waiting to be touched? Well, it’s more common than you think, actually. You may find the old explosives sitting somewhere in the middle of a field or forest full of dirt and rust.

But an explosive is still an explosive, and it’s always dangerous, like this underwater mine explosive. It’s just not underwater right now. It probably got loose and washed up on the shore. Yes, it needs more than the touch of a finger to explode, but it’s still a hazard.

An odd jar opener

Well, this person asked the Internet to help, and it delivered. So, according to the smarty pants online, this triangular-shaped, weird-looking device is a jar opener. It is one of those things that evolved in many different shapes and sizes over time.

And this is one of the products for its evolution. But it apparently is so old that not even the Internet knows how it works. We all have our assumptions, but no one is sure enough to show us how the heck it works.

A misleading sharpener

So, this beady thing isn’t exactly a sharpener, nor does it look like one. Someone found it in an old shed; no wonder no one knows what it’s for. But oldies on the Internet might have something to say to the gen Zs. It’s called a razor sharpener.

Again, it doesn’t sharpen the razor; it merely aligns its edges when the razor is slid across these two tightly held beady-looking things. The blunt razor won’t get any sharper than it was before. It helps to straighten the razor out. 

Escalator safety

Oh! How many people have we seen cleaning their shoes with this brushy thing on the side of an escalator? Well, we aren’t going to judge anyone for doing so because not many people know about its purpose for being there.

Well, the Internet is here to tell us that it prevents any loose clothing, shoelaces, or bag straps from getting caught in the moving parts of the escalator. If you are too close to the railing, this brush’s bristles will let you know to move away!

It’s not what you think

Yes, it looks like a porcelain monster’s feet. Yes, it is very freaky and weird-looking. Yes, a single foot on the beach gives us the creeps. But it’s not what it looks like. The Internet says that it’s a seal’s flipper!

No one saw that coming because nobody’s ever seen a seal’s flipper up close like this. And porcelain white, at that. We don’t know how a poor seal lost its foot. Still, finding a foot on the beach is creepy enough!

Not as emotional as anticipated

If you were to receive an item that belonged to a dear friend that passed away, you would think it would be something special or something that comes with great emotional and sentimental value, right? Well, this doesn’t happen all the time. 

This may look like an urn or something of the sorts, but it isn’t. In reality, it’s just a pipe. A very fancy one that’s hard to find these days. But still, it’s a pipe at the end of the day. Well, maybe the two had a good memory associated with it or something!