Man Asks "What Is This?" On Reddit, Building Evacuated After Item Found To Be Radioactive
The Reddit user said he bought the random item at a flea market because it looked cool and it was cheap.
A man's question about a seemingly harmless object he bought at a flea market in Germany led to the evacuation of his entire building after someone on the Internet correctly identified it as radioactive
The Reddit user, NecessaryOne6741, inquired about the mysterious object on the subreddit, r/whatisthisthing, about a week ago.
"I bought this random item in a flea market in Berlin because it looked cool and it was cheap.
"It's been in my wardrobe ever since until I took it out yesterday to take photos of it because I found out about [this subreddit]," he said.
He shared photos of the metal object and described it as heavy for its size.
"What is this thing? Once the lid is screwed on, you can't fit anything in it because of the black rod on the lid. The tag is labelled 637 and the same number is also engraved on the inside," he added.
Image via r/whatisthisthing (Reddit)
Image via r/whatisthisthing (Reddit)
The thread, which is now locked, drew over 280 comments from different users with different answers.
However, one person, who identified himself as a radiation safety officer, posited that it could be a lead-lined storage container (lead pig) for radioactive material.
"Hey OP, radiation safety officer here, this REALLY looks like a lead pig used to shield a radiation source housed inside the black rod part," wrote user Embarrassed-Rate9732.
"I highly recommend going down to your city's fire department and seeing if they can scan this for you just to confirm the presence of radiation or not," he suggested.
The officer added that keeping the radioactive object may be illegal, according to regulations in the country.
Image via r/whatisthisthing (Reddit)
In an update about 20 hours later, the original Reddit poster said he immediately phoned the fire brigade that morning to explain the situation.
Three fire engines arrived at his home within two minutes.
"They arrived to test the object, which was in fact radioactive," he said.
Eventually, the Reddit user said ambulances, police, and a bomb disposal unit arrived to evacuate all the flats in his building, taking four hours to remove the radioactive object from his home.
"Holy sh*t. Reddit coming through to prevent you and your neighbours from dying of radiation poisoning," replied one Reddit user to the shocking thread.
"Omg wow, at least you got it taken care of instead of just holding onto it forever in the place you're living," said another.
Image via Reddit
Image via Reddit
The Reddit user added that the radioactive material was identified as thorium, but did not indicate whether there were potential health risks associated with exposure to its radiation.
The Internet is wild. Read more trending stories on SAYS:
Leave a comment