Cannonball Discoveries: From Land to Luggage, History Resurfaces

WHO:

NY Post - Harold Knight, a property owner in Mississippi.

CNN - Justin Dupree, Lead TSA Officer; Tara Corse, TSA official in Alabama; Nathan Lusk, Captain of the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office.

WHAT:

NY Post - Harold Knight discovered more than 200 Civil War-era cannonballs on his property.

CNN - TSA found five small cannonballs in checked baggage at Alabama’s Gulf Shores International Airport.

CNN - The largest cannonball found was the size of a grapefruit, and the smallest was about an inch wide.

CNN - The cannonballs were confirmed to be stolen from Fort Morgan.

WHERE:

NY Post - The discovery occurred along US Route 45 in Booneville, Mississippi.

CNN - The cannonballs were found at Gulf Shores International Airport in Alabama.

CNN - Fort Morgan, where the cannonballs were stolen from, is located in Alabama and has guarded Mobile Bay since its completion in 1834.

WHEN:

CNN - The TSA discovery of the cannonballs occurred earlier in the month of the article's publication.

WHY:

CNN - The cannonballs were taken by a juvenile from out of state.

HOW:

CNN - TSA screeners discovered the cannonballs using an X-ray machine during baggage checks.

CNN - Law enforcement and TSA bomb experts confirmed the cannonballs did not contain explosives.

(UPDATED July 28, 2026 04:00 UTC)

In a remarkable find, property owner Harold Knight in Booneville, Mississippi, discovered over 200 Civil War-era cannonballs on his land. Meanwhile, TSA officials at Gulf Shores International Airport in Alabama uncovered five small cannonballs in checked baggage, with the largest being the size of a grapefruit and the smallest about an inch wide, all confirmed to be stolen from Fort Morgan. Authorities reported that a juvenile from out of state had taken the cannonballs, and TSA screeners detected them using an X-ray machine during routine baggage checks, with law enforcement confirming they posed no explosive threat.