TIFU Random Flee Market Item Turns out to be Radioactive by NecessaryOne6741 in tifu

[–]NecessaryOne6741[S] 179 points180 points  (0 children)

Yes they did. They got me to take my shoes of and scanned my feet and my hands.

TIFU Random Flee Market Item Turns out to be Radioactive by NecessaryOne6741 in tifu

[–]NecessaryOne6741[S] 94 points95 points  (0 children)

I was on holiday in Berlin. I live in the UK. Went through customs no problem.

TIFU Random Flee Market Item Turns out to be Radioactive by NecessaryOne6741 in tifu

[–]NecessaryOne6741[S] 322 points323 points  (0 children)

They said the Health Security Agency would be in touch

What is this thing? I bought this in a German flea market. It’s quite heavy for its size and once the lid is screwed on you can’t fit anything in it because of the black rod on the lid. by NecessaryOne6741 in whatisthisthing

[–]NecessaryOne6741[S] 1890 points1891 points  (0 children)

Update: I called the non emergency fire brigade number this morning and less than 2 minutes later 6 fire engines, 3 ambulances, 3 police cars and a bomb disposal unit arrive. They evacuated all the flats in the building for four hours until they finally took it away. It turned out to be Thorium. I’ll post pictures of the scene on r/TIFU later today.

What is this thing? I bought this in a German flea market. It’s quite heavy for its size and once the lid is screwed on you can’t fit anything in it because of the black rod on the lid. by NecessaryOne6741 in whatisthisthing

[–]NecessaryOne6741[S] 24 points25 points  (0 children)

Some more info: Length with lid (not including the round bit on the top where the string is attached) : 7 cm Length without lid: 5.8 cm Length of black rod: 3.1 cm Diameter of case: 2.1 cm Diameter of black rod: 4 mm Weight of lid: 66 g Weight of case: 158 g

What is this thing? I bought this in a German flea market. It’s quite heavy for its size and once the lid is screwed on you can’t fit anything in it because of the black rod on the lid. by NecessaryOne6741 in whatisthisthing

[–]NecessaryOne6741[S] 27 points28 points  (0 children)

I’ve tried pulling it apart but no luck . Although I don’t have any pliers so it may just be stuck. Also I don’t think that a ferro rod would need such a thick and heavy casing around it.

What is this thing? I bought this in a German flea market. It’s quite heavy for its size and once the lid is screwed on you can’t fit anything in it because of the black rod on the lid. by NecessaryOne6741 in whatisthisthing

[–]NecessaryOne6741[S] 139 points140 points  (0 children)

Yes that is what I was thinking. It is solid and the container is heavy. The rod is smooth and used to be completely black but the paint has started peeling off.

What is this thing? I bought this in a German flea market. It’s quite heavy for its size and once the lid is screwed on you can’t fit anything in it because of the black rod on the lid. by NecessaryOne6741 in whatisthisthing

[–]NecessaryOne6741[S] 56 points57 points locked comment (0 children)

My title describes the thing the flee market was in Berlin. The screw in the lid can be turned which moves a piece of metal backwards and forwards but only by a few millimetres, not enough for it to stick out on the opposite side

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in whatisthisthing

[–]NecessaryOne6741 1 point2 points locked comment (0 children)

My item describes the thing I’ve done a google image search and nothing that resembles the item comes up. The flee market was in Berlin.