20 crazy things people have tried to smuggle past the TSA at airports

AP

TSA check point at Orlando International Airport.

• The TSA or US Transportation Security Administration maintains a blog showcasing the most ridiculous items they've confiscated.
• These items include throwing stars, cans of propane, a series of loaded guns, narcotics, and a collection of grenades hidden inside a tactical vest.
• The TSA was founded on November 19th, 2001 in response to the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Air travel was once a much more relaxed affair. When passengers could simply show up to the airport, buy a ticket and then waltz onto the plane. Back then, airport security had a somewhat lackadaisical feel. Passengers were able to carry materials and items on planes that, in retrospect, seem shocking. A 2002 report by CBS News details that baseball bats, darts, knitting needles, pocket utility knifes less than four inches long and scissors were all allowed on airplanes.

The September 11 terrorist attacks changed everything. The 107th Congress passed the Aviation Transportation and Security Act that was signed into law by President George W. Bush on November 19, 2001, establishing the Transportation Security Administration or TSA. Now all airport screening is conducted by specially trained federal employees who are apart of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. In fact, by the end of 2002, the TSA had recruited, hired, and trained more than 60,000 Americans, recognized for being the largest mobilization of the federal government since World War II.

These days, the TSA and their security checkpoints are ubiquitous at airports around the US. But there are still the daring and the unaware amongst us that try to sneak items past TSA screeners.

In fact, the agency even documents all of the crazy and absurd items passengers have attempted to smuggle on board airplanes in an interesting and informative blog. Here's a look at some of the weird and insane things people trying to sneak past the TSA: