Mummified Body: Weird Things The TSA Gets To See When Screening Travelers’ Baggage

As travelers get impatient with the TSA while queuing for endless hours at airports, they should bear in mind what the security staff have to put up with on occasion, including the odd mummified body.

As reported by the Inquisitr recently, many passengers are missing their flights after queuing for two to three hours at the security checkpoints. So much so, a new hashtag was created to describe the situation, #IHateToWait.

However, with alleged short staffing and strange things happening at checkpoints all over the U.S., people will have to be patient.

Everyone has seen strange stuff going on at airports all over the world, but the latest incident can probably be titled the weirdest of all. Just imagine seeing something like this as you queue “patiently” with your belt and shoes in hand.

This classic example cropped up at a TSA checkpoint at Atlanta International Airport. Looking like a bit player from The Walking Dead, what appeared to be a mummified body had to go through the security scanners recently. Have a look.

However, what looks like a mummified body, or bit player from The Walking Dead or its prequel series, Fear the Walking Dead, actually turned out to be a prop from the horror film Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

Presumably, the lovely object was in the process of being transported by a big fan of the movie, or a collector of movie memorabilia. However it ended up there, the Transportation Security Administration had to treat it just like any other piece of passengers’ baggage. It had to be scanned and approved before heading to its new destination.

The TSA staff obviously found it amusing, as they snapped a few images and shared the above photo on their Instagram page. Apparently, incidents like this can make a hard job a lot more fun, especially with some of the more dangerous objects they come across, some of which are included below.

While not quite in the league of an apparent mummified body, some bright spark decided to include a cylinder flask full of black powder in their baggage, which was discovered in a carry-on bag last week at the Helena Regional Airport in Montana.

For obvious reasons, black powder is a strictly prohibited substance from both carry-on and checked bags and had to be confiscated for safety reasons.

Keeping on the more explosive side of things, and also during the last week, a live smoke grenade was discovered in a checked bag at the Charlotte Airport. Obviously, such items are hazardous materials, and are prohibited in both carry-on and checked luggage, so away it went.

While the next item could be considered to be a cute cat keychain, in actual fact it is a punching weapon. As with brass knuckles, these items are prohibited in carry-on luggage and cannot be carried through the checkpoint at an airport.

This particular beauty was discovered at the Norfolk International Airport a couple weeks ago and was taken away from its owner. However, if he had known, he could have packed it in his checked baggage.

Two examples of a rather more shocking item turned up at LaGuardia and Phoenix Airports a couple weeks ago. While they look pretty much like normal walking canes, they turned out to be stun canes, and all shocking devices are prohibited from being carried onto planes.

Some other scary looking items were found at four different airports a couple weeks ago by TSA staff. Knives of this nature are definitely prohibited in carry-on baggage, but if someone must travel with them, they can be placed in checked bags.

While the queues are still long and travelers get irritated and tired, think kindly if you can of the TSA staff and bear in mind that, what with stage props, weapons and the like, sometimes their job can be pretty tough. At least they probably got to laugh at the mummified body.

[Photo by Arina P Habich / Shutterstock.com]