What Is It? game 193

Here it is, our collaboration with the always amusing What Is It? Blog. Tell us what this object is, if you know. If you don't, make a wild guess!

Place your guess in the comment section below. One guess per comment, please, though you can enter as many as you'd like. Post no URLs or weblinks, as doing so will forfeit your entry. We'll have two winners: the first correct guess and the funniest (albeit ultimately wrong) guess will win T-shirt from the NeatoShop.

Please write your T-shirt selection alongside your guess. If you don't include a selection, you forfeit the prize, okay? May we suggest the Science T-Shirt, Funny T-Shirt and Artist-Designed T-Shirts?

For more clues, check out the What Is It? Blog. Have fun and good luck!

Update: the mystery object is a Civil War spar torpedo that was designed to be rammed into the hull of an enemy ship, and then detonated by a line from the torpedo to the submarine. The What Is It? blog has more about the origin of this particular torpedo, which is a replica of that used on Confederate submarine the H. L. Hunley. Berhard knew the correct answer right off! The funniest answer came from Richard, who went out into left field and said, "ummm, not sure what all these people are talking about, its is clearly just a metal chain, obviously keeping people from getting to that weird metal thing beyond the chain." Both win a t-shirt from the NeatoShop!