Say you find a coin. Say you have no idea if it's worth a million dollars or less than the leaf of grass you picked it up from. What should you do? Take a picture of it and post it on a subreddit called "What Is This Thing?" And it goes not just for coins. This community easily identifies missiles, slugs, nipple pumps; pretty much any thing they lay their eyes on. The subreddit is home to over 894,000 members and the number is constantly growing as well. Continue scrolling to broaden your horizons and upvote your favorite entries!
#21 Saw On My Flight To Cali. What Is This Thing?
Answer: Specifically, this looks like Concentrated Thermal Solar. It uses mirrors to reflect the light to a central tower which is barely visible in your picture due to the glare coming off of it. The light is then converted to heat where it drives a steam turbine, or some other heat engine.
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225points
#22 I Saw This “Cloud” On My Way To Work Yesterday Morning, May 22nd, At 5 Am Est. Other Than This, The Sky Was Completely Clear. What Is This Thing?
Answer: Rocket launch. I live near a launch complex. See this a lot.
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225points
#23 Heathrow Airport. Looks Like It Hasn’t Moved In Ages. What Is This Thing?
Answer: For fire training, for the airport fire brigade.
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222points
#24 Saw This Natural Phenomenon Near My Home. What Is This Thing?
Answer: Lenticular cloud.
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221points
#25 I Found This Thing In My Food. It Was Just Stuck To A Piece Of Meat; It Wasn't Lodged Into It Or Anything. Anyone Know What It Is?
Answer: Cattle/pig microchip for meat traceability.
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218points
#26 It Is Approx. 3 Meters Long And Open At The End. Found With Some Similar Looking Ones Scattered Around On A Hillside While Hiking. What Is This Thing?
Answer: This device is called Gazex and it's used to start avalanches, so they can control when and where they happen. This avalanche control system uses specially constructedand "exploder" sites and tubes built at key locations in avalanche territory to set off avalanches at controlled times. The exploders literally detonate a mixture of oxygen and propane from the tube structures. The explosive force expelled from the tubes triggers avalanches. The explosive bursts are fueled by gas canisters stored in tanks beneath the exploders on the mountain.
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209points
#27 I Drive By This Every Day, What Is On Top Of This Car?
Answer: It’s a crane arm — for filming in movies... it’s how they filmed the Red Bull Kluge video.
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193points
#28 What Is This Black Stuff Appearing On The Walls Of My Hostel’s Bathroom? It’s Almost In Every Corner As Well
Answer: Termite infestation.
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182points
#29 Dark Line On Earth Visible In The Spacex Falcon Heavy Stream. What Is This Thing?
Answer: It's land. New Caledonia
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167points
#30 Found This Kayaking In The Mississippi River Yesterday, I Think It’s Some Kind Of Exact Fungus But I’ve Never Seen This In My Life. What Is This Thing?
Answer: Bryozoa (also known as the Polyzoa, Ectoprocta or commonly as moss animals) colony.
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166points