Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with mysteryobject

Show me some mystery objects.

djstig — Fri, 09 May 2008 03:23:02 -0800

Are there any good online resources for "Mystery Object" games? A friend teaches EFL students and once a week takes a quiz with them. We decided that showing mystery objects and asking the students to talk about what they could be would be a good way of making learning fun!!

However I can't find many websites with mystery object pictures, can you help. They could be a random object that people are not sure what it does, or preferably a close up of a well known object.

I can find a lot of "What the hell is this thing?" - especially on AskMe & Flickr. But sites with a collection of different pictures (with answers) would be very handy.

Name the mystery object that was in my boyfriend's christmas cracker.

shelleycat — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 19:08:46 -0800

My boyfriend got this mystery object in his Christmas cracker and the family was stumped. What is it supposed to be? The handle is plastic, the top cheap metal and there is a fuzzy-faced cardboard backing (which may just be packaging). The rings are free floating and look like small keyrings, which may be what it this is supposed to be. But it would make a pretty shitty keyring if that's the case and it doesn't quite seem to fit. So what is this weird thing?

I told everyone I'd post pictures to a cool site I know of where it will not fail to be identified, please help me look clever to my in laws!

Help identify this mystery object?

scody — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 15:42:05 -0800

MysteryObjectFilter! My friend got this device on ebay. Can anyone help him figure out what it is? His description: "No markings or manufacturer names. Two dials on the left are Power (on/off) and Power (intensity); the dials on the right are Master (on/off) and Illumination (from dim to bright). When you turn it on and crank up the power, the center piece vibrates a bit. The central disk is plastic and lights up (lightbulb inside). The other two discs are covered in felt, and the inner one lifts up, sort of as if something should be clipped inside. The inner part of that circle has a groove in it, as if perhaps it, too, once had a plastic disc in the middle. Both discs rotate freely if you move the metal bar (which is what clips the two together), and they're mounted on springs inside the case. There's a drawer in the front that contained 8 old phonograph needles (which I suspect are a red herring). What the hell could this possibly be? The plastic thing on the side is clearly an arm rest or sheild of some kind, so that you can... draw something? Carve something? I suspect that it may be from the Lower Jurassic..."