A Transportation Security Administration officer found a set of stolen Civil War-era cannonballs inside a traveler’s suitcase during routine baggage screening at an Alabama airport earlier this month, authorities said.
According to a TSA statement, the discovery was made July 18 at Gulf Shores International Airport after an officer spotted a large, opaque object on the X-ray image of a suitcase. At first, the item appeared to resemble a medicine ball. But when the bag was opened, the officer found five small cannonballs wrapped in paper towels and immediately alerted 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.”
TSA via AP
“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.”
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The TSA said the cannonballs were inactive and contained no explosive material or active components. The largest was roughly grapefruit-sized and weighed about as much as a shot put ball. Even so, cannonballs are classified as artillery munitions and are prohibited from being transported on aircraft.
“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.”
Investigators later concluded the cannonballs had been taken from Fort Morgan after identifying paint markings that fort staff had applied to the artifacts. Officials said the relics dated back to the American Civil War. The historic fort near Gulf Shores has figured prominently in multiple military conflicts, including the Civil War.
The Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday that a juvenile stole the cannonballs from a storage area at the fort and then put them in their grandmother’s checked luggage. The grandmother told officers she was unaware the artifacts had been 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.
