/ CBS/AP
A TSA agent discovered a set of stolen Civil War-era cannonballs in a passenger's suitcase during a routine security screening at an Alabama airport earlier this month, law enforcement officials said.
The Transportation Security Administration said in a statement that the relics were discovered at Gulf Shores International Airport on July 18 after the agent observed what appeared to be a large, opaque item inside a suitcase during an X-ray screening, which he initially thought might be a medicine ball. When he opened the luggage, he found five small cannonballs wrapped in paper towels and notified a supervisor.
"My first thought was, 'I couldn't see a fuse and need to get some help quick,'" Lead TSA Officer Justin Dupree said in a statement Friday from the agency. "I couldn't see the entire item but was scared I might have been holding a live explosive."
"I had never seen anything quite this unique," Dupree said. "I've seen inert grenades and training munitions but never an Indiana Jones-esque stolen artifact-type situation."
The cannonballs — the largest about the size of grapefruits and weighing about as much as a shot put ball — were inactive and didn't contain any explosive material or active components, the TSA said. Still, cannonballs are artillery munitions and considered prohibited items on planes.
"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.
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