Government agencies may not be what you’d think of when searching for entertaining social media posts, but have you seen the Transportation Security Administration’s Instagram account? It shows all kinds of stuff the TSA finds in people’s luggage, from obvious banned items, like guns and knives, to totally random ones, like Magic 8 Balls, foam swords and bowling pins. (See post below)
Travelers have tried to get a wide range of prohibited items through airport security and TSA employees have the photos to prove it. And then Janis Burl, who runs the TSA’s social media team, uses them to create clever posts that show all the contraband they’ve collected from passengers.
“Nobody remembers what was on the news in the morning, but they’ll remember the joke you told them,” she explains. “If it takes humor to help you remember what you can and cannot do when traveling through security, then humor is what we will provide.”
Some of the wild items TSA has spotted in people’s carry-ons include:
- Colorful throwing stars - Thankfully, the TSA’s “razor-sharp officers” at the Baltimore-Washington International Airport caught these weapons.
- Cash in a slow-cooker - “Let’s all band together and agree 10k cash doesn’t belong in a slow cooker. That’s just common cents,” the TSA writes about this cash stash discovered in an X-ray at the Boston airport.
- Knives hidden in a Darth Vader bear - “The force was too strong with our officers at PHL, as they sensed a disturbance and put this Darth plan to rest,” the TSA shares about this find in Philly. “All Jedi know, knives must be placed in checked bags.”
- A maggot-infested suitcase - “We've got a grubby story to tell and this will probably bug the heck out of you,” reads the nightmare-worthy discovery at LaGuardia airport.
- A snake in a hard drive - A passenger who wanted to make snakes on a plane more than just a movie tried to sneak one past TSA in Miami, but didn’t get far.
- Optimistic travelers also tried to get a bazooka, a hairbrush dagger, a blade glove (think Freddy Kreuger), and even a harpoon past security, all with no luck.
Source: Huff Post
Scott's Thoughts:
- Do people not understand how the TSA works? Do they just hope they’ll get lucky?
- I was behind a guy that forgot to leave his pocket knife in the car. He had to give it up because he didn't have time to take it back to his car.
- It does feel intimidatingly going through TSA screening.