title: Can a non-object exist in Python?
body: <p>As everyone knows, everything is an object in Python. What I'm wondering about is whether it's possible to create an "object" <code>x</code> such that <code>isinstance(x, object)</code> returns <code>False</code>. I suspect it's possible with sufficient abuse of the CPython API, though achieving this with pure Python would be even more interesting.</p>
  
  <p>Initially I thought that old-style classes would return <code>False</code> since the object hierarchy might not fully apply, but it seems like <code>isinstance(x, object)</code> is indeed <code>True</code> for instances of old-style classes.</p>
  
  <p>While this is mostly of theoretical interest, it might be interesting (or dangerous) if Python allows the creation of a new object hierarchy disconnected from the base <code>object</code> type.</p>