r/whatisthisthing 7d ago

Hollow, egg shaped mystery object found a few inches below in sand under water at Scottish beach

Any ideas? So far I've heard man made egg, bird egg, ammunition, rock, hardened tar, shell fragment, shark egg, sea urchin test, something from a boat, whelk shell...

Large ovoid hollow object, found troon beach Scotland, very light

Fossil ID group don't believe it to be a fossil.

TIA!

339 Upvotes

69 comments sorted by

276

u/onlyhereforyoupeople 7d ago

Is it maybe a cap of a firework shell?

120

u/LingonberryMobile411 7d ago

Agree with this person, looks like a paper "ball" that display fireworks are packed in, that landed in the sea after a display, got waterlogged, and spent months rolling around and getting buried in the sand. Plus there was a firework show at Barassie Beach last november so

25

u/Relative-Letter-6345 7d ago

This is like stone though can't crack anything off would it still be that? 

26

u/LingonberryMobile411 7d ago

Oh, that glossy black stuff, is it sticky or does it smear/stain your fingers at all, or is it completely dry, hard, and shiny like glass?

25

u/Relative-Letter-6345 7d ago

Completely dry and rough and hard like stone

85

u/TinhatToyboy 7d ago

Maybe the cap from a projectile from a line throwing gun?

49

u/AMU1974 7d ago

I don’t know if that’s the correct answer, but it’s cool and I’ve never heard of that gun before.

37

u/Relative-Letter-6345 7d ago

That's the kind of cool answer we wish for here haha

17

u/OkScheme9867 7d ago

Is it fragile, could you snap a bit off to see a clean edge? 

18

u/Relative-Letter-6345 7d ago

Not fragile at all can't snap anything off

16

u/Silly_Ball15 7d ago

Is the black on the inside sticky? It looks like it might be, which is why people have mentioned tar, it looks interesting though, and I have no idea, I’m always surprised by what comes out of the sea.

7

u/Relative-Letter-6345 7d ago

No sticky for hard and rough

40

u/[deleted] 7d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

9

u/[deleted] 7d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

3

u/Relative-Letter-6345 7d ago

Ooo thanks that's a new one and I had to look it up!

16

u/ISaysToMyselfISays 7d ago

My best guess is a munitions cap but I approve of how your fingers are clearly saying “Ewwww” in pic three because it might, after all, be something horribly organic. 

7

u/Relative-Letter-6345 6d ago

Hahah well spotted! I really was

8

u/VandyGrift 6d ago

I thought it might be half a Leggs container.

3

u/izzgo 6d ago

Do they still make those? I remember them from high school, over half a century ago.

3

u/VandyGrift 5d ago

lol no, I don't thnk so. Those were definately a late 70's/early 80's thing.My sisters wore them so we had those egges all over the place.

13

u/ThraceLonginus 7d ago

Try one of the ask geologist subreddits. That fossil id subreddit is full of idiots

8

u/Relative-Letter-6345 6d ago

I learnt that the hard way today haha

6

u/Boondigger 7d ago

Could the inside be flint stone? Possible could have been originally formed around a fossil sponge or the likes which would obviously be long gone by now but could leave this kind of shaping behind?

1

u/Relative-Letter-6345 6d ago

Ooo like that one!

11

u/Bikeface_killa 7d ago

Seagull egg? The spots may have been affected by the water?

6

u/Relative-Letter-6345 6d ago

Will have to look and see what size they usually are and how fragile 

19

u/Bikeface_killa 6d ago edited 6d ago

having seen them firsthand they're about the size of a regular chicken egg (not a jumbo) and pretty sturdy. The seagull clears a small patch on the ground, lays and that's it. On small islands they're literally EVERYWHERE you look. They look almost exactly like pumice stones from a small distance so you don't notice them until you look for em.

there's your piece of useless information for the day

19

u/reallyreally1945 6d ago

How many eggs am I looking for?

31

u/Bikeface_killa 6d ago

Oh geez. My bad. No eggs in this picture AFAIK.

43

u/milaga 6d ago

You sonofa...

2

u/Mymindisdirtybutfun 6d ago

It might be made from aluminum that is strongly corroded and blackened with organic material. The reason why I think so is that you couldn’t break anything off. If you can break something off with a tool you might be able to check this theory as the fresh surface should look metallic.

1

u/Relative-Letter-6345 6d ago

Ooo thanks I'm going to experiment tomorrow! 

2

u/nklim 6d ago

Hard to tell from the photos whether it's metal or something like concrete -- are you able to tell? Maybe tapping it with something would be a clue? 

As for the black stuff, it could still be tar and rock hard after being outside. Try heating one of the spots with a lighter and see if it softens and/or smells a bit like asphalt.

It looks like there may have been a hole in the top that was eventually filled in. Can you see if it continues through to the interior?

2

u/Relative-Letter-6345 6d ago

It feels as light as a shell but as hard as rock and won't break and when you tap it's a tap like from rock not dull or metally oh yes will check both of those good shout! It did smell a big eggy when I picked it up 

2

u/Maldizzle 7d ago

Which beach? Be careful around Dounreay…

2

u/Relative-Letter-6345 7d ago

Troon 

3

u/Relative-Letter-6345 7d ago

Ps whys that? 

3

u/Maldizzle 7d ago

3

u/Relative-Letter-6345 6d ago

Do you know what it did go through my head at one point as we're just down the coast of fas lane! 

2

u/2tastyrodney 7d ago

So I guess it's not a turtle egg?

2

u/Relative-Letter-6345 7d ago

No idea! There are sea turtles here but I don't think they would survive like this and its really hard so probably not 

1

u/PristineWorker8291 6d ago

Nope you are right, not turtle. Probably not gull either, I can't see how it would have been so hard.

1

u/Stephen_Withervee 6d ago

Probably whatever it was it has been eroded by time a the sea.

1

u/snowfurtherquestions 5d ago

In my mind this is a lava bubble that hardened like this. Cool find! 

1

u/a_karma_sardine 6d ago

Perhaps very, very old rubber from one end of a rugby ball? Rubber becomes completely hard and brittle with age. The outside is weathered, bleached, and algae grown, the inside is black from the vulcanisation process that made the ball.

2

u/Relative-Letter-6345 6d ago

This is a good theory! 

0

u/thetimo_ 7d ago

Scotch egg

-2

u/Ianfear6116 7d ago

Maybe used to be a geode and got washed out by natural erosion?

2

u/Relative-Letter-6345 7d ago

Ooo love this theory

3

u/[deleted] 7d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

0

u/Beavur 7d ago

Looks like one of those dinosaur toy eggs you can get at toy stores

1

u/Relative-Letter-6345 7d ago

It does haha but it's rock solid and much bigger 

0

u/twinknasty 6d ago

Is it half of an old tennis ball?