# You find a strange object in your car, what do you do? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 2, 2017, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-find-a-strange-object-in-your-car-what-do-you-do/790333 "2017-07-02T05:27:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Contemplation](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Contemplation](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contemplation)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2017, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-find-a-strange-object-in-your-car-what-do-you-do/790333/1 "2017-07-02T05:27:06Z")
What would you do if you found a large and heavy duffel bag in the back/trunk of your car? You do not remember putting it there, and you don’t recognize it. You swore you locked your doors, so if someone did sneak it in there, how? The bag is at the same temperature as the rest of the inside of your vehicle. It is not moving, making sounds or anything like that. What would you do? ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2017, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-find-a-strange-object-in-your-car-what-do-you-do/790333/2 "2017-07-02T05:34:06Z")
1. See if there is anyone around who made an innocent mistake. 2. Call cops, or, if you are near a place that has video recording, - for instance, the parking lot of a supermarket - ask them to review the CCTV footage. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2017, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-find-a-strange-object-in-your-car-what-do-you-do/790333/3 "2017-07-02T05:40:57Z")
I’m going to cast “detect magic” while the rogue checks it for traps, the cleric readies a neutralize poison spell, and the tank opens the bag to look inside… ---
**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:** [July 2, 2017, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-find-a-strange-object-in-your-car-what-do-you-do/790333/4 "2017-07-02T07:50:32Z")
Call the police. Touch nothing. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2017, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-find-a-strange-object-in-your-car-what-do-you-do/790333/5 "2017-07-02T08:22:21Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Call the police. Touch nothing. +1 We all know it’s a dismembered body. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2017, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-find-a-strange-object-in-your-car-what-do-you-do/790333/6 "2017-07-02T08:34:53Z")
Or a dead extra-terrestrial. (I was gonna say dead alien, but I didn’t want to leave any doubt as to what I meant.) ---
**Author:** ![ioioio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ioioio/32/316_2.png) [@ioioio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ioioio)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2017, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-find-a-strange-object-in-your-car-what-do-you-do/790333/7 "2017-07-02T08:36:10Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > +1 > > We all know it’s a dismembered body. But it could be full of money. ---
**Author:** ![Contemplation](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Contemplation](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contemplation)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2017, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-find-a-strange-object-in-your-car-what-do-you-do/790333/8 "2017-07-02T08:38:24Z")
Wow. That’s a lot of paranoid responses. ---
**Author:** ![zoogirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b9bd4f/32.png) [@zoogirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoogirl)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2017, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-find-a-strange-object-in-your-car-what-do-you-do/790333/9 "2017-07-02T09:42:23Z")
The bag? Cops, ASAP. Slight hijack - back in '75 I was fifteen and easily amused. My boyfriend and I had just picked up a friend at the bus station, coming back from his summer job. He had a loaf of really stale bread with him. We decided it would be great fun to drive around and deposit a slice on the front seat of any car with a window left a bit open. (it was summer). We got rid of the whole loaf. I often wonder what the owners thought in the morning! ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2017, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-find-a-strange-object-in-your-car-what-do-you-do/790333/10 "2017-07-02T10:16:30Z")
I don’t think there’s any paranoia in assuming that whoever put it there is trying to hide something. Why else would they barge into someone else’s property knowingly? My car doors are going to be locked if I’m not in the car, and the trunk is locked unless I’m currently putting things in it. So the idea that it was accidental doesn’t wash. And if you’re willing to break in, I’m gonna assume that it’s not someone leaving a present behind. And, if that 1 in 100000 chance happens, being cautious does no harm. Call the police. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2017, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-find-a-strange-object-in-your-car-what-do-you-do/790333/11 "2017-07-02T10:27:09Z")
> [@Contemplation](#): > > Wow. That’s a lot of paranoid responses. This is one of those times where my rule applies: “What are the consequences of a miscalculation?” It certainly could be nothing. But if it’s not, it could be catastrophic. This is prudent, solid _reasoning_, not paranoia. What would **you** do? ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2017, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-find-a-strange-object-in-your-car-what-do-you-do/790333/12 "2017-07-02T10:40:38Z")
Me, I’d unzip the bag and see what’s inside. I’ve actually known someone who found a bag containing $20,000 on the street. She just kept it. Sometimes people with large and unexplainable amounts of unmarked bills need to flush it in a hurry. If it falls in my lap, I’m fine with that. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2017, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-find-a-strange-object-in-your-car-what-do-you-do/790333/13 "2017-07-02T11:09:55Z")
No obvious odor? I’d drive home, park in my garage, then take a look. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2017, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-find-a-strange-object-in-your-car-what-do-you-do/790333/14 "2017-07-02T11:37:26Z")
Cops. Now. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2017, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-find-a-strange-object-in-your-car-what-do-you-do/790333/15 "2017-07-02T12:07:14Z")
> [@Contemplation](#): > > Wow. That’s a lot of paranoid responses. Yeah. Probably safer for you to just keep your duffel bag and toss it off a bridge after you cross the state line. Good luck. ---
**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:** [July 2, 2017, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-find-a-strange-object-in-your-car-what-do-you-do/790333/16 "2017-07-02T12:20:27Z")
I’d spend maybe five minutes waiting and looking for someone who looks like they lost something. After that, cops. At no point am I touching it. And I’ll note that the thread title is misleading. If I found a genuinely strange object, like a cow tool or whatever, that’d be different. But a large duffel bag isn’t all that strange: I know what it is and what it could be used for, and there are a number of perfectly rational and plausible reasons for it to be there. It’s just that, what those reasons are is troubling. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2017, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-find-a-strange-object-in-your-car-what-do-you-do/790333/17 "2017-07-02T14:04:21Z")
Jeez, 16 posts and no one has yet asked “Need answer fast?”. First thing I’d do is check to see if [Brett Kimberlin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speedway_bombings) has been seen around town, and if so, call the cops to check things out. Even if Brett hasn’t been sighted, I’d call them anyway. I and several of my co-workers currently have good reason to beware of any strange packages. ---
**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:** [July 2, 2017, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-find-a-strange-object-in-your-car-what-do-you-do/790333/18 "2017-07-02T14:39:00Z")
Open the bag. When I see what’s in it I’ll remember putting it there last week. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2017, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-find-a-strange-object-in-your-car-what-do-you-do/790333/19 "2017-07-02T14:43:48Z")
Assuming I’m not at home: double check to make sure that the car really **is** my car. Then once I’ve established that I haven’t accidentally tried to get in the wrong car, pull the bag out of the car, put it on the ground, and leave. This is New Hampshire, and we consistently have amongst the very lowest crime rates in the country, so the odds of it being something nefarious enough to worry about leaving my fingerprints behind as I take the bag out are vanishingly small. Odds are far, far greater that someone mistook my car for another car. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2017, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-find-a-strange-object-in-your-car-what-do-you-do/790333/20 "2017-07-02T14:57:10Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > Cops. > Now. Definitely. [Joe Pesci may have put eight heads in there.](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118541/?ref_=nv_sr_1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-find-a-strange-object-in-your-car-what-do-you-do/790333.md?page=2)