There are some people who arrive at an airport’s TSA security checkpoint and almost ALWAYS make the scanners go off. We went over it a while back, in our post titled Why Do Some People Always Get Patted Down at the Airport? In it, we went over about a dozen things that could make the scanner’s alarms go off and lead you up for a pat down.
However a TikTokker named Alyse Carolyn recently brought up another possible reason why people flag the scanners, and it was one we didn’t know about. And she got it from someone who you might say is an authority…her husband, who is a TSA Officer.
Anyway, Alyse says in her TikTok video that, “…[her husband] just told me that people with blessed posteriors set off the X-ray machine more often than not.”
“Blessed posteriors”
“Blessed posteriors.” I LOVE THAT!
But anyway, that’s what she said. Or what she said her husband the TSAO said, to be exact.
Anyway, Alyse continued by saying, “I feel like this is something we need to test out..if you’ve got a fat a**,” sounding like she was going to giggle any second, “the next time you go to the airport, please tell me, did you set off the X-ray machine?”
Here’s the video:
@alysecarolyn
The video, which is less than a week old, is working its way to getting a quarter of a million views. So, of course, there are plenty of replies.
TikTok, of course, allows you to be relatively anonymous and, of course, who knows if or when someone is lying or not, but there were dozens upon dozens upon DOZENS of people (based on the femininesque names, it appeared to be a lot of women) who said that they’ve set it off and it’s always marked in the “crotch area” (which, as far as everyone is concerned, is “close enough” to the butt area).
What does the TSA say?
Funny you should ask!
TSA.gov specifically mentions that a butt pat-down is possible (bold print is mine, for emphasis):
A pat-down may include inspection of the head, neck, arms, torso, legs, and feet. This includes head coverings and sensitive areas such as breasts, groin, and the buttocks. You may be required to adjust clothing during the pat-down. The officer will advise you of the procedure to help you anticipate any actions before you feel them. Pat-downs require sufficient pressure to ensure detection, and areas may undergo a pat-down more than once for the TSA officer to confirm no threat items are detected.
And back in 2019, CNN reported, ““The machines rely on fixed technology to identify objects on the body that don’t belong. When you step into the body scanner, the technology scans you and indicates areas on the body warranting further inspection based on bulges or anomalies that don’t align with what the machine was taught…” Their report was based on the problems transgender men and women had with the scanners (that’s since been updated and fixed), but if your behind stuck out more than “what the machine was taught” couldn’t that be cause for the setting the scanner off?
And finally, someone reached out to the TSA to ask their take on it. Here’s what they said:
TSA cannot verify the authenticity of claims made on TikTok without more context about the time and place where security screening occurred.
However, I can verify that TSA’s on-person screening technology effectively screens diverse populations of travelers every day. During development, TSA on-person screening algorithms were trained to recognize body composition.
So there ya go.
Any of you experience this?
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