The TSA has caught people trying to sneak some of the most unbelievable things onto airplanes- how crazy? How about a weapon, animal, or even human remains? There is a long list of weapons that you are not allowed to bring onto an airplane. Yet, people still try to sneak things past the TSA. This rarely, if ever, works. Case and point; one man tried to sneak a utility blade onto an airplane in his carry-on, but was stopped by TSA agents.
Obviously, the man knew the blade would not be allowed through security, so he tried to conceal it in a Scooby-Doo greeting card. He carved out a section in the card and hid the blade in the cartoon dog’s head. Needless to say, the blade was confiscated and the man was brought in for questioning, at which point, he missed his flight. It is actually kind of unnerving how many blades the TSA has to confiscate on a weekly basis.
Some people will go to unbelievable lengths to conceal their weapons. In San Antonio, Texas the TSA had to search a carry-on bag that had just passed through the x-ray machine. What they were looking for was a tube of lipstick. It was covered in rhinestones and looked pretty ordinary at first glance. However, instead of the lipstick inside the tube, the TSA found a concealed knife.
This lipstick knife may have just been for self-defense, but regardless, it was not allowed onto the airplane. Even worse than the lipstick knife, multiple people have tried to sneak entire swords onto airplanes. The crazy thing is that swords are actually not even all that uncommon for people to try and sneak past the TSA.
Swords hidden inside canes seem to be one favorite way of trying to get the blades onto planes. One gentleman decided to take the cane weapon to a whole new level. TSA agents were surprised when they came across a cane that was not just a sword, but had been upgraded to include a stun gun as well. But you wouldn’t believe what the most common hidden weapon TSA discovers is- unless you’re a ninja.
Throwing stars seem to be weapons that are constantly trying to be snuck past the TSA. This is surprising for multiple reasons. The first: why are so many people carrying throwing stars? Are they all ninjas? And second: if they are ninjas, shouldn’t they be a little better at being sneaky? Either way, TSA personnel have confiscated throwing stars of all shapes and sizes, and have to constantly remind people that they cannot bring their throwing stars onto an airplane.
People have even gone to great lengths to get their throwing stars past the TSA. One person folded up his throwing star and hid it inside a smartphone case. Just because the throwing star is inside the case, does not make it invisible to the scanners as this passenger found out. The TSA has come across throwing stars so frequently that they had to create an announcement to remind fliers that: “all martial arts weapons are prohibited in carry-on bags.” They even posted on their social media accounts at @AskTSA that if anyone had questions about the proper way to pack and store throwing stars for a flight, please reach out to them directly.
If you thought throwing stars and hidden swords were crazy weapons to try and sneak past the TSA in a carry-on, you’re not going to believe what this next person tried to do. At Albany International Airport the TSA agents had to carefully pull a duffle bag off of the conveyor belt and ask its owner to head over to the security office. Inside the bag was a chainsaw. That’s right, the man packed up his chainsaw into a carry-on bag and put it through the security scanner as if this was a normal thing to fly with. It is unclear why someone would need to fly with their chainsaw, but as long as there is no fuel in the chainsaw, it is cleaned and packed securely, and chainsaws can fly in checked luggage.
Just by using common sense, most objects that have the word “gun” in their name, are probably not allowed in your carry-on luggage. That includes spear guns. This did not stop a man from wrapping his spear gun in packing tape and trying to bring it on a plane at Newark Liberty International Airport. Since there are rarely any fish on planes, it was probably not necessary for the man to try and sneak his spear gun onto the flight.
The TSA took the weapon and stored it with the rest of the confiscated objects collected from passengers that day. The TSA consistently reminds people that if you are unsure whether you can bring something in your carry-on or not, you can always check the “Can I Bring My” section of the TSA.gov website. Just in case you’re wondering, spear guns are on the “prohibited” section of this list. Many people enjoy purchasing items at the duty-free shop in airports because of the lower fees and no taxes. Oftentimes, travelers purchase fancy liquors and expensive boxes of cigars.
These goods can not be consumed or drunk on the plane, and if opened before going through security, they will be confiscated. This led to a woman at Beijing Capital International Airport to chug a whole bottle of very expensive Rémy Martin XO Excellence Cognac when she was told she would have to throw it away by security. Obviously, she became extremely drunk and violently ill. Another bizarre Cognac experience that the TSA had to deal with was in Detroit, Michigan. A man had tried to bring an oversized bottle of Cognac in his carry-on bag.
However, it wasn’t the bottle, or even the liquor, that the TSA had found unnerving. Instead, it was the dead animals inside of the bottle. The bottle itself was well over the size allowed by the TSA, but upon further inspection security found five dead sea horses that were on the endangered species list in it. This is messed up, to begin with, and it’s hard to think of punishment to fit the crime. Maybe the TSA should have had the man chug the entire preservative solution that the sea horses were contained in until his insides became endangered… just an idea.
What ended up happening was the TSA pulled the man from the line and called in Michigan wildlife officials to confiscate the bottle and dead sea horses. The man who was caught with the bottle was handed over to the proper authorities and fined heavily for his actions. Other people have even tried to sneak live animals through TSA checkpoints.
One person trying to reach Barbados had a hidden passenger contained within his computer hard drive. The traveler had taken a baby ball python, put it in a stocking, and stuffed it into the hard drive. As the carry-on went through the scanners, TSA agents noticed something that did not look quite right. They opened up the hard drive, rescued the snake, and handed it over to the United States Fish and Wildlife Services, who made sure to keep it away from any more humans dumb enough to try and smuggle it out of the country in a computer hard drive.
Pet fees can be expensive when flying. However, this does not mean that you should try to sneak your pet onto a flight in your carry-on, as one couple found out. They were flying from Erie International Airport in Pennsylvania and decided it would be easier to stuff their cat in a suitcase than pay the pet fee and put it in a crate. When the carry-on went through the scanner the TSA agents were surprised to see a cat staring back at them.
This was not only illegal but also grossly negligent of the owners. So, the TSA contacted the Humane Society which took custody of the cat. The couple was then charged with animal cruelty for their terrible decision and recklessness. It is probably unnerving enough for the TSA to find life or dead animals in carry-ons. But this next discovery will chill you to your bones. Many types of animal bones can pass through TSA checkpoints without a problem. However, at Fort Lauderdale International Airport the TSA staff on duty came across a real surprising set of bones.
Within a ceramic pot that a passenger had purchased was a human skull. The traveler claimed they had no idea that there were fragments of a human skull within the pot. One of the most bizarre things found by the TSA in carry-on luggage came from an animal but was not bones. It was something a little more… gross. Alaska is known for its vast wilderness, and at Juneau International Airport the TSA agents see a lot of carry-ons containing aspects of nature or wildlife from the region.
Unfortunately, one man tried to bring a little too much nature back with him on the plane. The TSA agents found a bag full of what looked like nuggets of dirt. On closer inspection, they discovered that the large bag was filled with moose poop that the passenger was taking home as an Alaskan souvenir. The TSA has no regulations in place that forbids a passenger from traveling with animal feces, however, there are policies in place against intense odors on airplanes.
Using this guidance the TSA confiscated the bag of moose poop and the passenger had to go home without his bag full of moose souvenirs. Sometimes you hear a story and just scratch your head wondering why people do the things they do. This next TSA discovery will definitely have you feeling this way. A couple traveling back from a wedding received a unique thank you gift. Apparently, the groom and bride thought it would be a good idea to have their party favors be wedding-themed hand grenades.
There’s a lot wrong with this, but the biggest problem is that when two grenades or any explosive device show up on a TSA monitor, they immediately have to bring in the bomb squad to make sure the threat is safely dealt with. Even though the grenades were fake, they still looked very real on the monitor, meaning that this wedding favor caused an evacuation of the area until the bomb squad could verify that there was no threat. Just as a rule of thumb, don’t travel with anything shaped like a grenade, or explosive, in your carry-on.
You’re just going to cause everyone a lot of anxiety and ruin other people’s day. And if dealing with fake hand grenades wasn’t enough, the TSA also has to deal with people deciding to travel with inert explosives. Funnily enough, the TSA won’t just take your word for it that the explosive is inert. Instead, as one man found out, they have to call in the bomb squad to verify the explosive is not dangerous, then they will confiscate it, and you’ll be in a lot of trouble.
This man put an inert mortar round in his carry-on while trying to pass through security. The TSA followed protocol and had to call in the bomb squad, which caused a commotion and delays. And this wasn’t even the first time someone did something this crazy. At Hawaii’s Lihue Airport someone tried to bring an entire rocket launcher through security.
It is because of situations like this that the TSA has dedicated entire social media accounts and websites to inform people what they can and cannot bring in their carry-on luggage. Now check out “Doing THIS At An Airport Will Land You In Prison.” Or watch What Happens When You Hide in the Landing Gear of a Plane.”
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