TSA In The Tabloids
Every morning I take a glance to see what's bubbling up to the surface in the blogosphere. I saw where we had made the tabloids in two different stories. In both examples, I noticed I could use these stories to clarify a couple of things with travelers. Nothing major, but good to know. Read on…
Story #1: Kris Humphries Wedding Ring DISASTER Averted - In this story, the TMZ reporter talks about how Kim Kardashian’s husband had to take off his wedding ring prior to walking through the walk through metal detector and dropped it on the ground. This near disaster could have been averted.Passengers do not have to remove jewelry. Our officers can advise you as to what might be making you alarm the detector, but it’s up to you whether or not you remove your rings, watches, necklaces, etc.
Story #2: So what does the scan show? Jessica Simpson goes through airport security after keeping mum on pregnancy rumours - In this story, the Daily Mail reporter is assuming we can see through an individual and know whether they’re pregnant or not with our Advanced Imaging Technology (AIT). While some might assume this, it’s just not the case. We have two types of imaging technology. Millimeter Wave and Backscatter. Neither are strong enough to see through the body. Millimeter wave: This past summer, we rolled out new software on all of our millimeter wave units so that all we see on these units is a generic outline of a person. And that’s only if the machine detects an anomaly. Backscatter technology: We currently see this type of image when using backscatter technology. My apologies to tabloid readers everywhere, but TSA can’t answer this one for you. You’ll have to ask Jessica.
For more travel information, be sure to visit our “For Travelers” section at TSA.gov. I regret to inform you that you won’t find any tabloid news on our web page.
Special Thanks Blogger Bob and DHS
