# 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:** 9
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-strange-grid-ball/646989/161 "2013-01-16T00:06:25Z")
It sort of reminds me of the Lake Tahoe UFO c2007 ---
**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:** [January 16, 2013, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-strange-grid-ball/646989/162 "2013-01-16T00:22:29Z")
The logical reason fo making it like that is to make the pieces out of varying alloys so that one could observe the behavior of each under whatever kind of substance the inside would be exposing them to. > [@moriah](#): > > Was there anyone inside it? Leprechauns? The ball is about 3’ across. > [@Senegoid](#): > > If they tell you, they may have to kill you. Who are these guardians of knowledge? I must seek them out and eradicate them, I am so tired of this Damoclean threat hanging over my books and stuff. ---
**Author:** ![j75035](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/858c86/32.png) [@j75035](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j75035)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-strange-grid-ball/646989/163 "2013-01-16T00:33:08Z")
What university is this? Knowing the university might help narrow it down based on their research. I suspect this is a resonator of some sort (microwave, optical, rf, etc) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-strange-grid-ball/646989/164 "2013-01-16T00:38:10Z")
> [@For You](#): > > The logical reason fo making it like that is to make the pieces out of varying alloys so that one could observe the behavior of each under whatever kind of substance the inside would be exposing them to. I would expect such an experiment to design the different test pieces so they were all identical in shape and size- to eliminate a postentially confounding variable. Anyway, that doesn’t account for the pipes also being made of pieces. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-strange-grid-ball/646989/165 "2013-01-16T01:42:02Z")
Did you just toss that Aperture Sciece thing-that-we-don’t-know-what-it-is into an Aperture Science Emergency Intelligence Incinerator? ---
**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:** [January 16, 2013, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-strange-grid-ball/646989/166 "2013-01-16T01:51:59Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > Can you get some more photos, and use a zoom to get better detail? I visit the site almost every weekend but may have to skip this one - I will go back with some time to photograph it from the other sides and some interior shots through the ports as well. I’d rather not identify the location publicly. It’s not a school with a strong engineering or physical sciences reputation, though. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-strange-grid-ball/646989/167 "2013-01-16T02:14:22Z")
It’s a Habitrail Giant Hamster Habitat, missing a curved connector tube. I have a similar one, likewise with a curved connector tube fallen off. When that occurs, the damned hamsters escape, gnaw into the walls and can’t be found for days, if ever. ---
**Author:** ![Snerky\_Snerk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@Snerky\_Snerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snerky_Snerk)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-strange-grid-ball/646989/168 "2013-01-16T05:03:34Z")
As **Mangetout** pointed out earlier, the ‘pipework’ does vaguely resemble a globe mount. So, I will follow that trail: The grid pattern seems to be consistent with that produced by lines of latitude and longitude. I think I count 18 plates around the equator on the visible side. So 36 around to make the 360 degrees. Whether intentional or not, if this was used as a mold, you would produce a globe with lat and long lines - I can see through the lower portal that the internal wall retains the grid pattern. Now the thing that makes me rethink the mold of earth idea is the location of the mount/pipework. Most globes that I have seen are mounted at the poles. The mount on this is at the equator. That does seem odd. Other things of note: the equatorial bolts that look like they may attach to something inside the sphere - to the left of the portal, they look grey. Maybe not removed since construction. To the right of the portal they are shiny. That may indicate that these are removed to free the cast once set. Whatever it is, this probably wasn’t as hard to make as I first thought. All the plates may have been cast. As they seem to be identical for each layer, you would only need one mold for each layer from equator to pole. 11 or 12 molds to produce the sphere. 1 for the portals. Easy. In my head. Probably not so IRL. Conclusion: I have no fucking idea what it is, but I would like it for my front garden. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-strange-grid-ball/646989/169 "2013-01-16T05:53:58Z")
IF it isn’t an artistic object and I don’t think it is, I’m going to guess it is for some sort of microwave waveguide/cavity/chamber application. The modularized sections are bolted together through slotted holes so that there is a bit of adjustment to permit minor changes to interior dimensions for tuning during testing. The conjugate graticule grid, apparent exotic material and portholes are hard to explain. Perhaps the waves undergoing study have strong polarization and transmission line properties which require greater tuning definition near the poles of the structure (smaller grid squares) and with nulls/dips at the portholes and equator. The unusual construction material might be for thermal properties. Perhaps there is high power and they need a stable cavity as the thing heats up. The portholes would be insertion points for instrumentation. It looks like the feedpipe is connected a porthole at 90 degrees from the one on the equator so maybe tat feedpipe is moved from place to place. The inside of the ball is visible in the bottom porthole which suggests that there are more which let in additional light. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-strange-grid-ball/646989/170 "2013-01-16T06:25:18Z")
Dunno what it is, but I do know some steampunk aficionados who would need some time alone if it came into their possession. ---
**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:** [January 16, 2013, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-strange-grid-ball/646989/171 "2013-01-16T13:13:16Z")
> [@jnglmassiv](#): > > I’m not too sure about this. Lessee: It looks insanely overbuilt for that purpose. Why would you need hundreds of tiles when ten segments would get you pretty close? Concrete shifts, bulges and dips as it cures, too, doesn’t it? And no reason to add portholes or make the pipe at left from many discrete sections. No reason to make it out of what does appear to be an exotic material. And it doesn’t seem strong enough to hold what must be a huge load of concrete. I admit, it’s way overbuilt for a form, like you said when ten or twenty segments could do the job instead of a hundred. But concrete doesn’t always bulge and dip on curing–actually, it rarely does. It shrinks and cracks, but that’s if you cut joints in it to crack some expansion joints. Portholes? I’d slip a vibrator in there to work the fines out to vibe the heavier aggregate to the center to make a better finish on the outsides. The pipe is where you’d fill it from the single nozzle on your concrete pump. _I_ am seeing a concrete form. I can dig where you guys ain’t. > [@beowulff](#): > > I don’t buy it. > If you look at the pipe that’s attached to the backside, it’s _curved_. There would be no reason to do that for a mold. Also, there are two right-angle ports on that pipe - why would those be there? And, why have the additional two flanges on the ball? > > No, this is a chamber for some type of Physics or Chemistry experiment - we just need to figure out the details. I’m still thinking concrete mold, and will put $10\* on it. You mention the school doesn’t have a strong engineering or physics background though. Yes, it’s massively over-‘ducted’ for concrete, but having seen similar forms, I’m sticking to my guns. Tripler Disclaimer: $10\* available to the winner who properly identifies it. [sub]Ten dollars available in TripCo coupons redeemable at 16 location scattered around Afghanistan and Antarctica. For full contest details, mail a Galapagos tortise on the back of a postcard to TripCo Headquarters’ Home Box Office in Macon, GA. Offer not valid in US states where Swahili not spoken by at least 0.56% of the population. Only you can prevent forest fires.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-strange-grid-ball/646989/172 "2013-01-16T13:16:45Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Once I started including ‘sculpture’ in my google image searches, I found some promising results - including: > > [http://www.allenpeterson.com/portfolio/modular-sculpture](http://www.allenpeterson.com/portfolio/modular-sculpture) I think this is by far the most promising lead we have. The donut thingy looks practically identical to me. Can we find out if this artist and this university are connected? Perhaps without disclosing the university? ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-strange-grid-ball/646989/173 "2013-01-16T13:37:05Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > It sort of reminds me of the Lake Tahoe UFO c2007 Whatever became of that, anyway? Has any hoaxer ever been identified/come forward? ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-strange-grid-ball/646989/174 "2013-01-16T14:36:28Z")
Probably has nothing to do with the OP, but an image search for **mysterious sphere** turned up this: [http://cdn.chud.com/c/c6/c643a174\_184162-mysterious-metal-sphere.jpeg](http://cdn.chud.com/c/c6/c643a174_184162-mysterious-metal-sphere.jpeg) ---
**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:** [January 16, 2013, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-strange-grid-ball/646989/175 "2013-01-16T14:54:10Z")
> [@Napier](#): > > I think this is by far the most promising lead we have. The donut thingy looks practically identical to me. Can we find out if this artist and this university are connected? Perhaps without disclosing the university? I can’t find any connections. It seems unlikely that a work by an artist of this stature would be dumped in a salvage yard, though. ---
**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:** [January 16, 2013, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-strange-grid-ball/646989/176 "2013-01-16T15:00:17Z")
> [@Snerky\_Snerk](#): > > As **Mangetout** pointed out earlier, the ‘pipework’ does vaguely resemble a globe mount. There are three such pipes, in parallel. This photo doesn’t show them well. I have some higher-resolution photos (this was shot with a Canon 5D - 21MP - but obviously was reduced for web posting. It I have a minute I will pull some closeups from the shots I have - it may be next weekend (a week from this one) before I can get back to the site for a more detailed examination. I had NO idea this thread was going to drag on so long without resolution. **Tripler** , I think there are too many things working against it being a concrete mold. For one thing, there’s no external structure that could support a ton or more of internal weight - I would expect to see large exterior ribs or buttresses to hold it up while it was loaded and curing. This is just too delicate and detailed. My _very_ small bet is still on art… ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-strange-grid-ball/646989/177 "2013-01-16T15:09:45Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Probably has nothing to do with the OP, but an image search for **mysterious sphere** turned up this: > [http://cdn.chud.com/c/c6/c643a174\_184162-mysterious-metal-sphere.jpeg](http://cdn.chud.com/c/c6/c643a174_184162-mysterious-metal-sphere.jpeg) So that’s where I left my Illudium Q -36 Explosive Space Modulator. Yes, I know it’s smaller in the show, but that’s just artistic license. ---
**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:** [January 16, 2013, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-strange-grid-ball/646989/178 "2013-01-16T15:13:40Z")
> [@NitroPress](#): > > **Tripler** , I think there are too many things working against it being a concrete mold. For one thing, there’s no external structure that could support a ton or more of internal weight - I would expect to see large exterior ribs or buttresses to hold it up while it was loaded and curing. This is just too delicate and detailed. Don’t need external structure–I’ve got fiberglass molds here in my Shop that guys bought to make concrete weight balls for bodybuilding. They’re just two hemispheres ya bolt together, with a hole at the top for filling/vibrating. I’ve seen disassemble-able forms before, for routine use on _hundreds_ of pours, placements, or casts. That does look like one hell of a reusable form to me, in lieu of other concrete evidence. ::rimshot:: Tripler Thanks, I’m here all week. Try the veal! ---
**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 16, 2013, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-strange-grid-ball/646989/179 "2013-01-16T15:17:08Z")
I think it’s a party bong. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-strange-grid-ball/646989/180 "2013-01-16T15:23:15Z")
It’s obviously a hive for robotic hornets (who, being sensible, are wintering down south). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-strange-grid-ball/646989.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-thing-strange-grid-ball/646989.md?page=10)