What Is It? game 277

It's once again time for our collaboration with the wonderfully entertaining What Is It? Blog. Do you know what the pictured item is? Can you guess? Or can you make up something totally wacky?

Place your guess in the comment section below. One guess per comment, please, though you can enter as many guesses as you'd like in separate comments. Post no URLs or weblinks, as doing so will forfeit your entry. 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, see? May we suggest the Science T-Shirt, Funny T-Shirt and Artist-Designed T-Shirts?

See another picture of this item at the What Is It? Blog. Good luck!

Update: This is still an unknown object. Rob at the What Is It? blog researched every guess and found no definitive answer. So we decided to select two winning funny answers! Pismonque said it is "an ingenious device to mechanically reproduce the sound of one hand clapping." That's good enough to win a t-shirt from the NeatoShop! And Joseph Francis said "You cast it like a fishing rod and it scratches the back of someone on the other side of the gymnasium. I forget what it's called." Unfortunately, he didn't specify a t-shirt. Check out the answers to the other mystery items of the week at the What Is It? blog.