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What is this black thing, roughly the size of a coffee mug, cylindrical in shape, attached to a circular bracket, on the side of my neighbours house? Its position can be adjusted, doesn’t light up or make noise. Not sure on weight as it is fixed to the wall. We think that it’s plastic.

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[-] Adulated_Aspersion@lemmy.world 11 points 1 month ago

Could be a motion detector for other chained lights or security. Could also be an infrared directional camera, as others have noted.

[-] SouthEndSunset@lemm.ee 4 points 1 month ago

In the interest of giving more info…I wouldn’t put a motion detector there cause it’s between two houses, there’s a walkway on our side and you couldn’t get much more than a pack cigs between the fence and their house on their side.

Doesn’t mean it’s not though…

[-] redlemace@lemmy.world 9 points 1 month ago

I'd say ..... Dummy camera.

[-] SouthEndSunset@lemm.ee 5 points 1 month ago

That’s what crossed our minds, but there’s no lens type thing on the front.

Don’t get on though, so a camera wouldn’t surprise me…they’re “well do as we like and you can get fucked” type of people.

[-] j4k3@lemmy.world 4 points 1 month ago

Many things are transparent to infrared that are not transparent in optical light, especially black plastics. It could still be a camera.

[-] SchmidtGenetics@lemmy.world 5 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Could be an antenna to extend or receive their signals.

Something like this

[-] Death_Equity@lemmy.world 5 points 1 month ago

Looks like an outdoor speaker

[-] SouthEndSunset@lemm.ee 1 points 1 month ago

Apparently it never makes any noise. I’m not always there.

But I agree with you.

[-] Death_Equity@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago

A lot of outdoor speakers fail and aren't replaced because it is a pain and almost nobody uses them enough.

They are a good idea, but silly for 90% of people who have them.

[-] NOT_RICK@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Yup. Bought a house that had some outdoor speakers. The audio cables ran into the basement and when I finally got around to hooking them up to my amp it did not go according to plan. I trimmed the cabling for some fresh copper and water started immediately dripping out of the cables. Turns out the conduit the previous owner had laid for the wiring was completely water logged. I ended up buying some wireless speakers instead of dealing with that mess.

[-] NOT_RICK@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago

Could it be a light fixture of some sort that they haven’t turned on? May be worth pointing your camera at it at night too so you can see if it’s putting off any infrared light.

Besides that, is there anything they may want controlled remotely in the general direction it is pointing in?

[-] i_stole_ur_taco@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 month ago

Is it a cover for some conduit in case they want to install a security light/camera later? Does it unscrew or slide off?

[-] CaptSatelliteJack@lemy.lol 2 points 1 month ago

Dang, you must have a huge m&m tube

[-] tetris11@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 month ago
[-] SouthEndSunset@lemm.ee 1 points 1 month ago

As I said in another comment, I’d ruled out a camera cause there’s no lens bit…but can you get cameras like this?

this post was submitted on 29 May 2025
28 points (100.0% liked)

What is this thing?

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