class or object???

anonymous.php

<?php

// anonymous classes are both instances and types. huh? what?

$type = new class {
    public function foo() {
        echo "YAY";
    }
};

$type->foo(); // => "YAY"

$object = new $type();

$object->foo(); // => "YAY"

Lol, it's a class, just like any other but without a name.
What u are seeing is an object being instantiated from another object.

Try $type = new DateTime();