The object was part of a pair of plastic sunglasses (the stick that
goes around the ear at one end, and connects to the rim of the lens at
the other.) It had broken off the glasses, and was lying on top of the
dryer, when it accidentally fell into the hole on top of the dryer
where the lint trap goes into, when I had removed the trap to clean the
lint off it one day. The opening of this hole is too narrow for me to
reach in with my hand to try and retrieve this object, and I also tried
checking at the other end, where the duct connects to the back of the
dryer, but I couldn't get at it from there either.

So basically, I'm afraid that this object remaining where it is (stuck
in there somewhere), might be a potential fire hazard, because of the
high temperatures that are reached there (I noticed that this area is
all metal, suggesting that plastic might not be safe there.) I called
an appliance repair person, and what he said was that as long as we're
not hearing any noise (like the object rattling around) when we start
the dryer, then it should be fine. I don't understand the logic behind
this, and this guy had a pretty thick Russian accent so I could barely
comprehend him, so anyway I just thought I'd toss this problem out to
this newsgroup for second opinions on the matter (and to be on the safe
side.) Thanks!!