July 30, 2026 / 7:27 PM EDT
/ CBS/AP
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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."
This photo provided by the TSA shows a stolen Civil War-era cannonball discovered by TSA officers in a checked bag at the Gulf Shores International Airport in Gulf Shores, Ala., on July 18, 2026.
