Britt Jones
You’ve got to hand it to people - they worked hard to conceal prohibited items from airport security in 2025, but the TSA worked harder to find them.
When you travel, there are strict rules about what you can and cannot take on board, for various safety reasons.
From liquids, to weapons, the list compiled by officials was designed to keep all passengers free from risk of harm whilst up in the air.
However, some people choose to ignore those rules, and now that the TSA has revealed all the prohibited items it confiscated last year, we get to see just how insane some of those things were.
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Currently, US travel is trying to become more efficient and simple, so that passengers can get through security with minimal disruptions.
For example, they have the Real ID requirement and biometric facial scanning technology, but that doesn’t mean people won’t get held up if they pack ridiculous things.
The TSA had a shock when they uncovered a plethora of strange objects in 2025.
While you might imagine it’s just people simply forgetting what they can and cannot bring to the airport, it seemed more deliberate, per a TSA officer at Newark Liberty International Airport.
“I think that’s what shakes things up a bit when you’re seeing not just the passenger having something in a bag, but they are really deliberately doing a lot of work to hide things,” Gabrielle Connor-Findley told The Post. “I think that’s what makes it more interesting and the fact that we can actually find it more challenging.”
In one instance, she explained they discovered a gun in a guitar case in October.
“Clearly the officers are paying really good attention and yeah, I’m super proud of that,” she said. “We are very well trained, we are really alert, and we care on top of [it] all.”
Apparently, the person went on to say they didn’t realize it was in there and the case was a gift from a friend.
A BB gun concealed in the inner lining of a suitcase was also found in late June, with a TSA employee flagging the find to the Port Authority Police.
Then, there were throwing stars: small, metal blades that are shaped like stars.
“It’s just not something that you see,” Connor-Findley told The Post, calling it ‘very odd’.
“You’re going to take a double, triple look. You’re like, ‘Is this what I think it is?'”
A stun-gun concealed as a flashlight was found at the Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI) in mid-September.
Then, a knife hidden inside a belt buckle was discovered, leading to the Maryland Transportation Authority Police searching the passenger after it was picked up during the routine X-Ray.
However, in one instance, even an employee was the subject of an illegal object... a comb knife.
The Newark staff member allegedly was found with a money-themed comb knife in Terminal B, leading to them being arrested.
“They’re not letting anything past them just because it’s an employee,” said Connor-Findley.
Lastly, pills hidden in a paper towel inside the passenger’s shoe were discovered in December and were seized by the Maryland Transportation Authority Police.