Plane passengers reveal WILDEST items ever confiscated at the airport

• On a Reddit thread, travelers have revealed items seized at airport security 
• Caviar caused a problem for one traveler, who was flying back from Russia 
• Antique cannonballs got one airport-goer into trouble in Mexico City

Thought oversized toiletries or penknives were a problem?

Bemused travelers have now revealed some of the wackier items they’ve had confiscated at airport security with everything from caviar to cannonballs among the mix.

In a Reddit thread titled ‘confiscated objects at airport,’ one user asked: ‘What is your most interesting, funny or weird story about objects that were confiscated from you at the airport?’

They added that the oddest item they were forced to hand in was a pot of honey. 

The thread quickly garnered hundreds of comments. Here, we reveal some of the stranger tales of run ins with the TSA.

Caviar

Caviar caused a problem for one traveler. The Reddit user revealed: ‘My father was travelling from Russia back to our home country around 20 years ago. 

‘He had one medium tin of caviar in his bag, he told me he triple checked if he could carry it and found no indication against it. 

‘Sure enough, he was stopped at security, letting him know that it was not allowed. 

‘My father was pretty sure the security just wanted to take the caviar for themselves. 

‘After arguing for a while, he proceeded to open the caviar tin and eat the entire thing in front of them. [He then] thanked them for their time and passed through.’ 

Bread knife

An innocent purchase for the home turned out to be a nightmare for one traveler. 

Explaining the offensive kitchen item, they wrote: ‘I bought a lovely bread bin from a homewares shop in Sydney and the shop wrapped it for me. 

‘At the airport I was asked by security what was in the bag so I told them. Then they told me to step back and not touch anything while they opened it. 

‘Unbeknown to me the bread bin came with a 12-inch bread knife, which was inside the bin. How embarrassing. And frustrating – it was a damned fine knife.’

Concealed bullet 

Two American cruise passengers recently found themselves arrested on Turks and Caicos after security found ammo in their bags during a stop.

And one Reddit user in the thread reiterated that bullets are also a no-no with airport security. 

Recounting an incident, they wrote: ‘I know a guy who was an avid hunter, and at some point a single .22 bullet had worked its way through a hole in his pocket and lodged itself deep in the fabric layers of his cargo pants. 

‘Turns out the TSA takes bringing a concealed bullet through security pretty darn seriously. 

‘No charges were ultimately filed, but needless to say he missed his flight that day and now seems to have a lifetime supply of additional screening at airports.’

Mathematical compass 

Designers and mathematicians beware, as a drawing compass caused commotion at one airport in Aswan, Egypt.

The traveler revealed in the Reddit thread that the implement was examined by several guards ‘very closely.’

Following the inspection, the guards decided it could prove dangerous. 

Continuing the story, the Reddit user wrote: ‘One of the guys held it up, then unscrewed the bolt, and removed the tiny little point (it’s little, like 4mm at most), made a scowl face at me, and threw the point in a biohazard box. 

‘He put the rest of the compass back in its box and handed it back to me. I just laughed and said he could keep it… I mean, it’s pretty useless without the point.’

Dried tangerine 

Check every nook and cranny of your bags before travel, one Reddit user warns, as an old piece of fruit proved troublesome for them while transiting through Los Angeles. 

Detailing the debacle, they wrote: ‘LA airport security insisted that we were importing food from outside the US in our checked luggage. 

‘They kept us waiting for two hours and emptied our huge suitcase in fruitless attempts to find said food. 

‘Finally they got to a dry tangerine that must have travelled in a corner of that suitcase for the last five years, and proudly confiscated it.’

Space slime

Still haunting them to this day, another Reddit contributor revealed how some ‘awesome slime’ was confiscated from them by airport security when they were around 11 years old. 

Touching on the chain of events, they wrote: [The slime] was my only souvenir that I chose for myself at the Smithsonian Space Museum in DC. 

‘We went to so many of them that day, I literally loved it so much. Our last one was the space one and in the gift shop they claimed the slime was “space slime” obviously just cool looking slime but as a kid I thought it was the coolest most interesting thing ever and this was before slime was in every store. 

‘So we got to TSA and they pulled it out of my backpack, I literally cried so much. I begged the lady not to do it, to the point where she felt bad and asked if we had another bag we could check. It hurt my little heart so much. 

‘Looking back, I know it wasn’t a big deal but for a little kid it really is.’

Following the traumatic incident, the Reddit user says they now always check their bags ‘twice’ before travel to make sure nothing will ever get thrown away. 

Mustard 

Many people in the Reddit thread revealed food items which had been confiscated by airport security, including jams, honey and Nutella. 

One contributor said they were surprised when they had some Icelandic mustard they had purchased at the airport in Reykjavik seized when they entered the US. 

They added: ‘The shocked and sad look on my husband’s face still haunts me.’

Another traveler recounted a similar mustard fiasco when they traveled from Dusseldorf to Newark. 

They reminisced: ‘It was a jar of grainy mustard for me. Still hurts to have lost that one. It was a completely arbitrary call. 

‘Meanwhile I’ve gotten through with lighters, matches, pocket knives etc which were in some dark corner of a pocket or bag and long forgotten.’ 

Cannonballs

Skip cannonballs when souvenir shopping, one Reddit user recommends. 

They revealed in the thread that they purchased two ‘baseball-sized’ cannonballs from an antique store in Cartagena, Colombia, believing they would be a ‘neat souvenir and only cost about $10.’

Recounting the hiccups which occurred as a result of the novelty purchase, they wrote: ‘I packed the cannonballs in my carry on and flew Cartagena to Bogota no problem. 

‘The next flight, Bogota to Mexico City we still had them in our carry on. But when we went through security again Mexico City the security officer said we could not fly with them. 

‘We were very short on time and did not want to miss our connecting flight, so we just left them. 

‘Not sure if we could have put them in our checked luggage, but probably should have not flown with them in the first place. 

‘Later on, I found that other tourists have done this and caused the airport to be evacuated, as sometimes they could still have gunpowder inside.’ 

Handcuffs

Handcuffs caused problems for a handful of travelers. 

One contributor on the discussion forum said of their handcuff headache: ‘I had handcuffs confiscated in Morocco. 

‘They were in checked luggage but in the airport there you put all your bags through a scanner before you can check in. 

‘So the security agent took them out of my bag in front of everyone. Bless his heart he had no idea what they could’ve been for. My husband had to convince him that we didn’t have nefarious intentions.’