Frightening object caught by TSA inside passenger's baseball bat-shaped flashlight

A passenger’s attempt to bring an unusual item through airport security in Florida quickly caught the attention of highly trained Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers.

At Tampa International Airport recently, TSA officers discovered a 4-inch, double-edged knife concealed inside a baseball bat-shaped flashlight, according to an employee story published on the agency’s website.

TSA Officer Andrew Carter was screening the passenger’s carry-on bag with an X-ray machine when he noticed something unusual about the flashlight — and flagged the bag for a closer look.

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“The makeup and composition of the flashlight appeared unusual and outside what I typically expect, so I determined it required further examination,” Carter said in the published note.

Supervisory TSA Officer Michael Slaughter then searched the bag — and felt a mass beneath its lining. 

After opening the lining, he found the baseball bat-shaped flashlight and noticed a line along its shaft.

“That is when it detached from the flashlight — revealing a 4-inch double-edged knife integrated into the handle,” he said.

When the passenger was questioned, he initially said he did not know the item was in his bag.

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But after airport police arrived, he said he’d placed it beneath the suitcase lining to save space, according to TSA.

The passenger was arrested and was not allowed to travel, the agency said.

Keith Jeffries, the Florida-based vice president of K2 Security Screening Group and a former federal security director for TSA at Los Angeles International Airport, told Fox News Digital that concealed blades are not unheard of at airport checkpoints.

“It’s not uncommon to see artfully concealed blades inside of items,” Jeffries said.

He pointed to walking canes as one example, noting that passengers are sometimes unaware that a blade is inside an item they purchased.

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The Tampa case raised a different concern because the passenger reportedly admitted to intentionally concealing the item, Jeffries said.

“Once you do that, that falls right into the category of artful concealment — which leads to certainly a grave concern,” he said.

Passengers who bring knives to checkpoints may be able to voluntarily surrender them and continue traveling, while law enforcement decisions depend on the circumstances of each incident, TSA said.

Travelers could also potentially face a civil penalty, while TSA PreCheck members could lose access to the program, Jeffries said.

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His advice to travelers is to know exactly what is inside their luggage and not attempt to test airport security.

“Pack your own bag, know what’s in your bag and do not try to test the system,” Jeffries said.

“Do not test the security system. You will lose,” he emphasized.

Fox News Digital reached out to the TSA for further comment.