One of the things I actually missed during the government shutdown was the Transportation Security Administration’s delightfully unhinged social media presence. It’s always cheeky, punny, eyebrow-raising, and a great source of story ideas for me as a travel writer, too. Well, after weeks of silence during the federal shutdown, the agency returned to social media this week — and wasted no time reminding travelers exactly what officers were dealing with while the government was paused.
“Guess who remembered their password?” TSA joked in its comeback post, before thanking officers for working diligently without pay… and then rolling out a carousel of the jaw-dropping items people tried to bring through security over the past month. And if you assumed a shutdown meant fewer questionable carry-ons, TSA’s latest roundup says otherwise.
At Dallas–Fort Worth on October 6, officers uncovered what the agency diplomatically described as something that “should have been labeled a bad idea from the start.” TSA added that if you don’t want “an illicit response from law enforcement,” it’s best to “leave the junk at home.”
On October 9 at West Virginia’s CRW Airport, someone attempted to travel with an inert Valmara 69 anti-personnel mine — the kind of object that would grind an entire terminal to a halt. “It looks like the real thing until bomb experts give an all-clear,” TSA wrote. “We shouldn’t have to tell people to leave explosives, or things that look like they’d go boom-boom, at home, but here we are on repeat.”
At Austin’s AUS Airport on November 1, a traveler packed a sickle in their carry-on. TSA leaned into its trademark dad-joke energy: “Yes, it’s an edgy idea… but here’s a sharp bonus tip: Always pack knives and blades in your checked baggage.”
And on November 9 at Newark (EWR), officers intercepted a concealed three-foot cane sword. “Sword of goes without saying that a 3-ft cane blade shouldn’t be carried onto a plane,” the agency quipped. Zing!
TSA closed the post by reminding travelers that while some people were “rusty on how to pack their bags,” its AskTSA help line remained operational throughout the shutdown. And if you’re unsure whether something should go in a carry-on, you can always check the agency’s official “What can I bring” list online.