TSA agents are used to finding strange and alarming objects in travelers’ luggage, whether it’s snakes, switchblades or swords. The latest addition to that list: a missile launcher.
The agents at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport made the discovery Monday in the checked bag of a man who was coming back from Kuwait.
According to the Transportation Security Administration, the traveler was quickly questioned. He turned out to be a member of the military traveling home to Jacksonville, Texas, who wanted an unusual souvenir from his time in the Middle East.
Fortunately, the device was not active.
TSA spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein joked on Twitter that “Perhaps he should have picked up a keychain instead!”
Unfortunately for would-be souvenir hunters, the TSA notes that “Military weapons are not permitted in checked or carry-on bags.” The missile launcher was given to the state fire marshal for disposal, and the man was released in time to catch his flight.
