# What is this thing? \[Strange grid ball\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 12, 2013, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-strange-grid-ball/646989 "2013-01-12T20:37:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 20
**Author:** ![StrangerThanFiction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f05b48/32.png) [@StrangerThanFiction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StrangerThanFiction)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-strange-grid-ball/646989/381 "2013-01-26T05:51:37Z")
It’s high time somebody submitted an entry to the SCP Foundation on this one, complete with photographs of the apparatus. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-strange-grid-ball/646989/382 "2013-01-26T05:58:49Z")
I posted it to another MB (science based). It didn’t get much traction so far however one poster claimed to have seen it or something like it before. He described the poles as having a slight twist giving the ridges a stair-step effect. Looking closer at the pics… maybe. Someone there also mentioned there was an 8 page discussion on Snopes forums but I couldn’t find it. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-strange-grid-ball/646989/383 "2013-01-26T20:08:06Z")
> [@White SIFL](#): > > Someone there also mentioned there was an 8 page discussion on Snopes forums but I couldn’t find it. Perhaps they were confused and thinking of _this_ thread? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-strange-grid-ball/646989/384 "2013-01-26T21:31:03Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > Perhaps they were confused and thinking of _this_ thread? Perhaps there will be a Snopes page that clears up this myth that they have an 8 page thread on the subject. ---
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-strange-grid-ball/646989/385 "2013-01-27T03:11:14Z")
If you do manage to acquire this, please post picture of it in it’s new home. I will be ever so jealous. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2013, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-strange-grid-ball/646989/386 "2013-02-06T00:22:14Z")
Not quite the same, but check out [this commercial](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/03/hyundai-team-super-bowl-commercial-2013_n_2612718.html)just past the 00:10 mark. ---
**Author:** ![Bob\_X](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@Bob\_X](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bob_X)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2013, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-strange-grid-ball/646989/387 "2013-02-06T00:29:16Z")
Do NOT taunt Happy Fun Ball! ---
**Author:** ![eltro102](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@eltro102](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eltro102)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2013, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-strange-grid-ball/646989/388 "2013-02-06T00:31:42Z")
maybe it’s an inside out bowling ball from the future? ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2013, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-strange-grid-ball/646989/389 "2013-03-03T17:52:03Z")
So . . . is there a final verdict? Tripler Enquiring minds wanna know! ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-strange-grid-ball/646989/390 "2013-03-04T13:41:45Z")
Rio? ---
**Author:** ![cougar58](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@cougar58](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cougar58)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-strange-grid-ball/646989/391 "2013-03-04T13:52:23Z")
> [@NitroPress](#): > > Okay, no thanks to you. 🙂 > > I worked with some ancilliary equipment for the National Ignition Facility project, and the main ignition sphere looked a lot like this - but a helluva lot bigger. > > Since it looks like the thing has been here for at least 6-7 years, I don’t know if anyone in the physics department would even remember it. Here is what the NIF unit looked like [![](http://www.truthbeautynow.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/lawrence_livermore_national_lab_f2.jpg) ](http://www.truthbeautynow.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/lawrence_livermore_national_lab_f2.jpg) It held 192 lasers pointed at the target chamber. A single laser (of the 192) was many times more powerful than any laser prior. Does look similar, on a smaller scale ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-strange-grid-ball/646989/392 "2013-03-04T14:05:09Z")
No updates yet. Still working on finding someone who thinks they’re responsible for it as salvage-yard material. I am soooooo tempted to just cruise in with a hoist truck, casually load it into the bed and drive away like I belong there. ---
**Author:** ![cougar58](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@cougar58](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cougar58)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-strange-grid-ball/646989/393 "2013-03-04T14:09:07Z")
Nitro I also worked with a contract firm on NIF. Any chance you can drop me a msg with email, or can you just direct msg another doper? just curious if we know common people from NIF we did the Pro-E CAD stuff FYI starting around 2000. billions over budget and late, yet the POTUS gave NIF an award for project management. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-strange-grid-ball/646989/394 "2013-03-04T15:22:49Z")
Submit the pic to the alumni association, and ask them to put it (along with a short paragraph) in their newsletter. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-strange-grid-ball/646989/395 "2013-03-04T19:47:36Z")
> [@NitroPress](#): > > No updates yet. Still working on finding someone who thinks they’re responsible for it as salvage-yard material. I am soooooo tempted to just cruise in with a hoist truck, casually load it into the bed and drive away like I belong there. I say do it. Just boost the damn thing, take it home and set it down in the woods. See if a brouhaha ensues or if nobody notices its absence. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-strange-grid-ball/646989/396 "2013-03-04T20:15:08Z")
> [@For You](#): > > I say do it. Just boost the damn thing, take it home and set it down in the woods. See if a brouhaha ensues or if nobody notices its absence. Man, I’d love to, but I’d probably get busted for it, and be lucky enough to have it art-valued into felony territory instead of ~$200 scrap value. I am also considering putting it in my front yard, over my well head. That way I can look at it more often, annoy some neighbors who annoy me, and make mysterious mumblings about special filtration systems when they ask. So somebody might just see it and make the connection… I’ll pursue a legit acquisition for a while yet. ---
**Author:** ![CannyDan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cannydan/32/548_2.png) [@CannyDan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CannyDan)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-strange-grid-ball/646989/397 "2013-03-04T20:15:23Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > Submit the pic to the alumni association, and ask them to put it (along with a short paragraph) in their newsletter. This is an excellent suggestion. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-strange-grid-ball/646989/398 "2013-03-04T20:24:47Z")
> [@NitroPress](#): > > …annoy some neighbors who annoy me, and make mysterious mumblings about special filtration systems when they ask… Priceless. A great case of I don’t know much about Art, but I know what I like, fuck you very much. ---
**Author:** ![Toucanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@Toucanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toucanna)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2013, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-strange-grid-ball/646989/399 "2013-06-16T19:59:24Z")
[QUOTE=Francis Vaughan] I doubt the item itself was 3D printed. **There would be no bad castings.** {snip} [/QUOTE] (Not worth starting a new thread, so I’m re-animating this one. Also, emphasis is mine.) I respectfully beg to differ: [3ders.org - The art of 3D print failure | 3D Printing news](http://www.3ders.org/articles/20121025-the-art-of-3d-print-failure.html). 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2013, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-strange-grid-ball/646989/400 "2013-06-16T22:15:12Z")
You got everyone’s hopes up. ☹ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-strange-grid-ball/646989.md?page=19) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-strange-grid-ball/646989.md?page=21)