A mystery device that popped up on an Aussie home has baffled neighbours, council and experts alike. The device appeared on a drainage pipe on a house in Balmain, Sydney, and neighbour Kristen Lethem told Yahoo News the homeowner had no ‘heads up’ before it appeared.
“The owner knows nothing about it,” Kristen told Yahoo. “[I’m] not sure what to think, until I know what it’s for.”
The device in question is wrapped around the drainage pipe on the side of the property on Duncan Street and appears to be some sort of sound detector with wires.
Yahoo News reached out to the Inner West Council for information; however, it confirmed it wasn’t behind the installation and had no idea what it was, or who it belonged to.
“The device in question is not a council device, and council has no knowledge of why or when it was installed,” an Inner West Council spokesperson told Yahoo.
Australians are deeply concerned about increased surveillance in and around built-up areas, with more than four out of five wanting more control over the collection and use of their personal information, according to a study conducted by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner in 2023.
Having a device pop up on a home without explanation was considered “suspicious” by Kristen, and the Inner West Council confirmed to Yahoo News a worker visited the site to inspect it.
Experts weigh in on unusual device on Aussie home
Yahoo News reached out to several sound engineers in the hope that the mystery device could be identified.
While it is unknown where the device came from, it was likely put there for sound detection of either local traffic or wildlife.
“It’s definitely an environmental noise logger… It may collect audio but probably just records numbers,” Professor Jeffrey Parnell from the University of Technology Sydney told Yahoo.
“Could be someone measuring something as benign as bird calls. But more likely just ambient noise or traffic noise. Maybe a study of buses or garbage trucks.”
Parnell said it was unlikely it was a device from a government-led project as authorities would “definitely have sought permission and would have needed a team of five people to cordon off the road and put up scaffolding”.
Professor Sebastian Oberst from the University of Technology Sydney also believes it’s “some kind of microphone” but confirmed you “can’t just attach it somewhere” without permission.
Yahoo News understands the device has since been removed from the home after being up for about a week.
It is unknown who removed it.
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