What Is It? game 233

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?

There are more pictures of this thing at the What Is It? Blog. Have fun and good luck!

Update: there were a lot of good guesses, but so far no one was been able to determine exactly what the mystery object is, including the What Is It? blog -and the original manufacturer! Thanks for many good leads, but none have been verified. The funniest answer was from Jared, who surmised that this is a modified vacuum pump, with a hole added as "a rudimentary eyeball extraction device. It’s really the only possible explanation." That's worth a t-shirt! Find the answers to the other items of the week at the What Is It? blog.