Wasn't sure which subforum to post this in so I defaulted to this forum. An unknown parachute canister. Could not find a similar item online apart from an older finned flare canister. Don't know if it is even military with the big red "Reynolds Aluminum" stamped on it.

 

Apologies for the small cell phone pics. The item showed up at a friend's pawn shop. Any ideas as to what it is exactly?

 

And as always, thanks i advance.

That's an interesting item. I'm anxious to see what the experts think.

Looks like an aircraft dropped parachute illumination flare.

Just bumping this old post up to see if there might be any new ideas.

FSC 6920 is for Armament Training Devices

 

I found a mention of it in this 1965 National Guard Bulletin but it doesn't say what it is used for.

 

This website lists as being for the F4 Phantom but I'm not sure where they are pulling their info from. 

Hey Cap, thanks for the links.  I still can't find a photo or description of this particular item, but I am leaning towards a parachute attached to a gravity bomb to slow down its descent.  This might explain the link to an F4.  The silver color may be the marking for a training device.  Once the weather warms up a bit and gets sunny I will take out the parachute itself to get a measurement.  (Yea, I know, I might not be able to stuff it back.)  I suspect the parachute is too large for a flare or one of those camouflaged Vietnam era motion detector monitor units.

The ".050 Reynolds aluminum" marking is the standard stamps that are placed at regular intervals on sheets of aluminum.  .050 is the thickness of the aluminum.  The markings are normally stamped in a straight line, but are now in an arc because of the shape of the nose cone.