It’s not something you see every day — even at an airport. A routine security screening at Alabama’s Gulf Shores International Airport led to the recovery of five stolen Civil War-era cannonballs hidden in a passenger’s checked suitcase, reported the Associated Press.
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The cannonballs, determined to be inactive artillery relics, were discovered July 18 after a TSA officer spotted suspicious items during an X-ray inspection. Investigators soon discovered the cannonballs had been stolen from historic Fort Morgan by a juvenile. The stolen items, according to the report, were allegedly placed in a grandmother’s luggage without her knowledge. Officials said Fort Morgan declined to pursue charges, and the artifacts have since been returned.
“I had never seen anything quite this unique,” the TSA Officer reportedly said in a statement. “I’ve seen inert grenades and training munitions but never an Indiana Jones-esque stolen artifact-type situation.”
EDITOR’S NOTE — This report was compiled from an Associated Press story published in the Alabama Daily News.
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