This could be "terminal"

These electrical terminals were in a junction box at one point in their life but that has long been broken so now they are chilling out in free air. you definitely wouldn't want to touch them and the best thing is they were at head height in a dark basement.

A broken junction box leaves live wires at head height

Luckily, once identified, it was a pretty easy fix, 3 Wago connectors and a new Wago junction box screwed to the wood and it's safe and ready for another 20 years.