Whatsit

My lovely wife found this object at the side of the road while walking the dog. Neither of us have a clue what it is. Whatever it is it is quite sturdy and rather heavy.

It appears to be made out of some sort of composite material -- sort of a cross between fiberglass and masonite. It has the same feel in the hand, and the same heft as an extremely dense wood such as Ironwood or Ebony. Clicking on the images will bring up larger versions of the photos which show more details. The lower photo, in particular, gives a good look at the "grain" of the material which is more fiberglass than wood. That photo also shows the small hole that appears to have been drilled after it was formed.

The object gives every appearance of having a definite function. The carefully smoothed edges of the big hole and the three cutouts suggest ropes or cables. The small, drilled hole is not smoothed, suggesting that the small hole is not part of the object's function but may be used to hang it up until it is needed. As I said, the object speaks clearly of carefully designed functionality -- it merely gives very little information about what that function might be.

I am posting my photos of the object in hopes that some reader may have used, or at least seen, such a thing and can tell me what it is. My current best theory is that it is a Klingon sex toy. The fact that this is my best theory should tell you how far from a clue I am. Klingons are fictitious, for one thing, and besides, at only eleven inches it would be rather small.

If you know what this thing is please leave a comment. If you have no clue, guess. If you have lost one of these recently on the Cary Parkway just tell me what it is and you can have it back.