Puny hu-mans. You're knob-centric views expose your ignorance. To those of us you call "aliens", this device is self-explanatory. The object in the photo is one piece of a two part mechanism. The item above is obviously a "Perspirus Adjustment Knob". It is used to adjust the timing mechanism on the famous "Blamburg Machine". This machine is used to dynamically maintain the differentiation fields that separate all 256 dimensions of existence. Too bad they only found this adjustment knob. If they had discovered the accompanying "Blamburg Machine", it would have altered human history forever. Oh well. Live long, and phosphor - puny hu-mans.