The USA’s Transportation Security Administration has published a top 10 of the strangest items discovered at airport security checkpoints in 2019 – and two New York airports have made the list.
TSA officers at Newark International Airport came across a pet snake that someone lost on August 19, 2019. The 15in (38cm) ring-necked snake, a thin black snake with a bright yellow band around the back of its neck, was spotted on the floor of the checkpoint in Terminal C by a passenger who notified a TSA officer.
The TSA officer placed a gray checkpoint bin over the snake to contain it and prevent it from slithering away. The checkpoint lane was closed temporarily and passengers shifted to another lane to clear the area. Port Authority Police were notified and secured the snake before taking it away, enabling TSA to repopulate the checkpoint lane a short time later.
TSA screens a variety of pets that travelers bring to checkpoints, but it is up to the airline as to whether it will allow those pets on the aircraft.
A month later, at LaGuardia Airport, a traveler passing through a TSA security checkpoint was found to be traveling with a pair of martial arts sais, which are metal piercing weapons with a central blade with two curved prongs coming out of the handle. They were spotted as they went through the x-ray scanner.
Among the other items to make it onto the top 10 were samurai swords, butchers’ knives and an electric saw.
Watch this video to find out what the strangest found item was.