Two Transportation Security Administration agents at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport discovered a sharp object that looked like it belonged in a comic book or horror movie—not a passenger’s carry-on. One officer said he had never encountered anything similar in his two years with the TSA, while the agency dubbed the unusual weapon-like item “mutant blades.”
TSA officers Douglas Linn and Dennis Oishi noticed the blades while examining X-ray images at an airport security checkpoint, then searched the carry-on bag, the agency said.
The object “resembled a mix between Wolverine-style claws and Freddy Krueger blades,” according to the TSA, referring to the Marvel character and the infamous villain from “A Nightmare on Elm Street.” The agency said the discovery was a reminder “that some accessories are better suited for movie screens than airplane cabins.”
“Not a Marvel-ous idea in your carry-on bag,” the TSA wrote Tuesday in a post on X. Alongside photos of the eerie apparatus, the agency offered a tongue-in-cheek warning to travelers: “Please pack all mutant blades in a checked bag.”
Linn, who first flagged the carry-on containing the blades, said he was stunned when the item appeared on the X-ray monitor.
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“I saw three blades and distinct claw-like features,” he said in a statement. “I was amazed, and even more so when it came out of the bag. I had never seen anything like this during my two years at TSA.”
The passenger told officers he had forgotten the item was inside his luggage. After Oishi removed the blades during the bag search, the traveler voluntarily surrendered them at the security checkpoint.
Ann Rhoades, a supervisory TSA officer, said the discovery ranked among “the most unusual items” she had seen during her seven years with the agency.
“My first thought was, ‘Oh my gosh,’ and my second thought was, ‘Is this what I think it is?’” Rhoades said.
TSA rules allow passengers to transport sharp items—including box cutters, corkscrews, darts and knives—in checked baggage. However, the items must be “sheathed or securely wrapped to prevent injury to baggage handlers and inspectors,” according to the agency’s guidelines.