How to say "I don't know what it is"... ???

[Shiroisan]

Considering that I know a fair bit of Japanese, I was extremely taken aback when I tried to say this simple sentence and realized that I simply didn't know how.

By "it" in my sentence I'm talking about an object... Like a parking meter or something random.

The problem for me lies in how to represent "what" as the existence of something.

それは何かしりません。

err that does not sound right.... help?

[Ongakuka]

By "it" in my sentence I'm talking about an object... Like a parking meter or something random.

Normally it would be a conversation setting, I would have thought. In which case, something like

あれは何だろう

んー、わからない。何だろうね。

But here are a few more expressions that might be what you are looking for.

どんなものか（は）分からない。
それは何という物か知らない。
それは何だか知らない　(I believe this is correct Japanese, but possibly misleading since at first it may sound as if you were using the different word 「何だか」)

I'm posting this in the hopes that it is a fast answer but I am sure there are people who can offer more helpful/accurate information.

[Shiroisan]

thanks for the ideas of how to go about it cuz i had literally none.

[kalavinka]

My instinct was to only add one letter to your sentence.

それは何だかしりません。