10 Most Unusual Objects Found in Luggage

Have you ever wondered what people pack in their luggage when they are traveling? Usually it’s just clothes and travel accessories, but sometimes people pack artificial legs and a camera designed for a NASA space shuttle. That may seem strange, but those things were actually found in luggage bags! Here are the 10 most unusual objects found in luggage:

1. Corn snake – A TSA screener discovered a three-foot corn snake while conducting a search of a checked luggage bag. The snake was alive and would have gone on a flight from Honolulu, Hawaii to Sacramento, California if not discovered. The owner of the bag said she did not know how the snake got into the luggage. She was allowed to board her plane, but she received a $5,000 citation for illegally transporting, possessing and harboring a snake. She didn’t know how it got in there? Really?
2. Barbie doll filled with $500 – What happens when airlines can’t find the owners of unclaimed luggage? The airlines send the unclaimed luggage to the Unclaimed Baggage Center in Scottsboro, Alabama. People can visit the Center and buy the items that were found in the luggage. A woman bought a Barbie doll for her daughter at the Unclaimed Luggage Center. The daughter pulled the head off the Barbie doll and $500 in rolled bills fell out of the doll’s body. Why doesn’t that ever happen to me?
3. Ancient Egyptian artifacts – Several ancient Egyptian artifacts including a mummified falcon and a shrunken head were discovered in an old Gucci suitcase. The items dated back to 1500 B.C. and were sold at Christie’s auction house in the 1980s. Actually kind of cool.
4. Naval guidance system – A Naval guidance system for a F16 fighter jet worth $250,000 was discovered in an unclaimed luggage bag. The GPS was later returned to the Navy.
5. Tiger cub – The Airports of Thailand staff at a Bangkok airport saw an object that appeared to be a real animal on their x-ray images after scanning a bag. The bag was inspected by officers from livestock and wildlife departments and they found some stuffed tiger toys and a sedated two-month-old tiger cub. Glad he was sedated or that could have been really interesting!
6. Baby crocodiles – A Saudi passenger’s suitcase was inspected by officials at his departure gate in Cairo, Egypt after their X-ray machine gave odd readings. The officials found baby crocodiles, chameleons, and several snakes inside the suitcase. The 22-year-old man said he did not know he was not allowed to bring reptiles on the plane and he claimed was transporting them to a Saudi university for research. The man was allowed on his plane, but the reptiles were turned over to the Cairo Zoo because it is illegal to transport live reptiles out of the country in Egypt. Gee, really?
7. Land mines – Three land mines were found in a woman’s luggage at an airport in New Jersey. The land mines were the same type of explosive used during the Vietnam War. The woman told security that she was attending an explosives demonstration. She was allowed to re-book her flight to San Francisco, but the land mines were not allowed on the plane. Has she been in a time warp? 9/11 — hello….
8. 10lb frozen turkey – Airport security officers at Cardiff Airport in Wales stopped a passenger who tried to fly to Spain with a ten pound frozen turkey in his carry-on luggage. The man said he tried to fly with the Turkey because he was worried that he wouldn’t be able to find a turkey for his holiday meal in Spain. I admire this man’s preparedness. He must have been a boy scout.
9. Five foot, ten inch man – A man was found in a luggage bag in Spain after a shuttle bus company employee noticed a man struggling to put a heavy suitcase into the cargo bay of a bus and alerted the authorities. The bus was traveling from the Girona airport to Barcelona. This was not the first time the man was in a suitcase and he would steal from other bags in the cargo bay during bus rides. The police had been alerted by bus passengers who noticed items were stolen from their bags after they got off the bus.
10. Roasted human fetuses – A British citizen was arrested in a Thailand airport because six roasted human fetuses were found in his luggage.  The man said the fetuses were worth around $6,300 and he was going to sell them in Taiwan where they are considered to be lucky charms. Not your average barbeque fare, that’s for sure. This one is not only very strange, it’s also over-the-top gross!

Have you or someone you know packed anything stranger in your luggage? We’d love to hear your story!