A TSA official called it "the case of the golden grenade." (TSA/Lisa Farbstein)
Just in case you weren’t aware, the Transportation Security Administration would prefer you not pack a grenade in your bag before heading to the airport.
Unfortunately, a spokesperson for the TSA was forced to make that very announcement on Wednesday, after staff at the Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey found an inert grenade – painted gold – inside a passenger’s bag during a security screening.
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The passenger reportedly told officials he was on his way to military training in Phoenix, Ariz., after the grenade was discovered.
It was later determined that the grenade was indeed genuine, though it had been rendered incapable of exploding.
The passenger was later allowed to board his flight to Phoenix, according to TSA spokesperson Lisa Farbstein, though he was “not allowed to fly with his grenade,” per the North Jersey Record.
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This wouldn’t be the first time airport officials discovered similar items in passengers' bags, either. In August, the TSA at Newark Liberty International also confiscated novelty bottle openers shaped like grenades, which were intended as gifts for a wedding party’s groomsmen. An Argentine airport was also evacuated in July after officials found a grenade-shaped marijuana grinder that had been discarded by a passenger prior to a flight.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.