- TSA agents at Salt Lake City's airport were stumped upon finding what appeared to be a human skull.
- The skull, packed in a traveler's luggage, had "unidentifiable components inside," KSL.com reported.
TSA agents at Salt Lake City International Airport were in for a surprise after finding what appeared to be a human skull in a passenger's luggage earlier this month.
While scanning the passenger's bag on the morning of September 18, agents found the skull stuffed with "unidentifiable components" that resembled an improvised explosive device, officials told local news outlet KSL.com on Friday.
A TSA spokesperson confirmed the incident to Insider on Saturday.
Upon finding the skull, agents called Salt Lake City police, who arrived to investigate alongside an explosives specialist and a bomb-sniffing dog, the outlet reported. The debacle reportedly shut down security for about two hours.
"Everyone involved showed professionalism and worked diligently to resolve the matter and ensure that security was not compromised. Operations were restored as quickly as possible," the TSA spokesperson wrote in a statement to Insider.
As it turns out, the object wasn't a real skull but a plastic, medical training device. The passenger told agents surgeons use the skull to demonstrate a lobotomy and that he was taking it to a conference in Cancún, Mexico, per the outlet.
According to WebMD, lobotomies were used primarily throughout the 1940s and '50s to treat psychiatric disorders. While they were more common in the middle of the century, "these surgeries were primitive and dangerous" by today's standards, the site says.
Ultimately, the skull never reached Mexico as TSA agents decided not to allow the passenger to take it with him. They kept it for him to pick up when he returns to the US, KSL.com reported.
In the statement sent to Insider, the TSA spokesperson recommended that anyone traveling with a "highly unusual item" should alert agents beforehand to "avoid potential suspicion."
"This incident and subsequent response is an example of how TSA must take every potential security threat seriously while making sure that the transportation system is not put at risk," the spokesperson added.