In a surprising discovery, a TSA agent uncovered a collection of stolen Civil War-era cannonballs hidden in a passenger’s suitcase at an Alabama airport this month, according to law enforcement officials.
The Transportation Security Administration revealed that the historical relics were found at Gulf Shores International Airport on July 18. During an X-ray scan, an agent noticed what seemed to be a significant, opaque object in a suitcase, initially mistaking it for a medicine ball. Upon inspecting the luggage further, the agent found five small cannonballs wrapped in paper towels and quickly alerted a supervisor.
“My first thought was, ‘I couldn’t see a fuse and need to get some help quick,'” Lead TSA Officer Justin Dupree remarked in a statement released by the agency on Friday. “I was unable to view the entire object and worried it might be an active explosive.”
TSA via AP
Dupree added, “I had never encountered anything quite this unique. Although I’ve come across inert grenades and training munitions, this was my first time dealing with a scenario that seemed straight out of an Indiana Jones movie.”
According to the TSA, the cannonballs, the largest measuring roughly the size of grapefruits and comparable in weight to a shot put ball, were not active and lacked any explosive material or functional components. Nonetheless, as artillery munitions, cannonballs are forbidden on aircraft.
“I had never seen anything like this,” Supervisory TSA Officer Richard Cash said in a statement. “It was my first time dealing with a potentially live explosive, and it’s actually only the second incident we’ve had since JKA opened in May 2025.”
Police eventually determined the cannonballs were stolen from Fort Morgan, based on paint marking applied to the artifacts by fort staff, and that they dated to the American Civil War. The historic Gulf Shores fort played a significant role in several military conflicts, including the Civil War.
The Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday that a juvenile stole the cannonballs from a storage area in the fort and then placed them in their grandmother’s checked bag. The grandmother told officers she did not know they were stolen.
Spokespersons for Fort Morgan didn’t respond to an email seeking comment. The sheriff’s office said the institution declined to press charges, and the artifacts were returned to the fort.
TSA has been screening more than 2 million passengers a day this summer and has encountered some unusual items in travelers’ luggage. This summer alone, TSA has found two live smoke grenades, an inert grenade, a pipe bomb look-alike and a samurai sword hidden in a guitar case.