Got baggage?

So we've all got baggage. No, not baggage like "oh my god my life is crap, I've got baggage", I mean airport baggage.



Unless you've never flown (which is really crappy - give me a call and I might buy you a ticket somewhere close by) then you've no doubt packed a suitcase and sent it on its merry way along a conveyor belt, and then (hopefully) picked it up again on another conveyor belt.

So, because most of us are Baggage People (sing to the tune of Depeche Mode's Damaged People) here are some weird facts/stories about all things baggage from around the globe.

1.) If you have ever lost your baggage, you might want to catch another flight and see if your items are standing on a shelf at the Unclaimed Baggage Centre in Scottsboro, Alabama. That's a store the size of a city block selling the contents of baggage that's been lost (and remained unclaimed after some time).

2.) There's an Unclaimed Baggage Centre Museum. Items (not for sale) include Hoggle, David Bowie's dwarf-goblin minion from the 1986 film Labyrinth and a violin from the 1770s.

3.) A mummified falcon, a shrunken head and bunch of other Egyptian artifcats dating back to the 1500s were once found in an old Gucci suitcase. Christie's auction house were said to have sold the items in the 80s. (I wonder if that included the Gucci suitcase?)

4.) A live rattle snake was once found roaming amongst other unclaimed baggage. Yikes.



5.) A naval guideance system worth about $250,ooo was once found and never claimed. Apparently the people from the Unclaimed Baggage Centre returned it to the navy.

6.) A Barbie doll stuffed with $500 notes. Now that is one bimbo I wouldn't mind taking home with me.

7.) A full replica of a 19th century suit of armour. WTF?

8.) A 5.8 carat diamond which was set in a platinum ring and wrapped in a sock.

9.) A camera designed for use on a NASA space shuttle. No price was mentioned, but the dudes from the Unclaimed Baggage Centre took it back to NASA.

10.) A woman stopped at a baggage counter in Munich was found by officials to be carrying the skeletal remains of her brother. She claimed she was on her way from Brazil (where her brother was from) to Italy, to bury her brother who had asked her - while still alive 11 years ago - to bury him there.

11.) A passenger in Bakersfield, California was found with five soda bottles filled with honey which somehow tested positive for traces of explosives. The guys carrying it were later let off though. Sweet. (Sorry, I had to.)

Now, the thing I really want to know is, what are the Unclaimed Baggage Centre staff not telling us? I wonder, when faced with things like that sparkly diamond, if people working at the centre have nicked stuff here and there. Mmm. Perhaps I need to apply for a position there.....