Casio Solar Pathfinder: One of
the watches that the Transportation
Safety Administration is looking out for.
[ Photo: Amazon.com ]

In the past few weeks, a number of media outlets have reported on a warning that the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI issued on certain Casio multi-function watches. The Watch Report says that Casio has offered to work with the Transportation Security Administration to help agents identify watches with built-in butane lighters and altimeters, so that airline passengers posessing them can be subjected to further screening.

It's surprising that the DHS and the FBI think that the altimeter on Casio watches could be an effective way to trigger some sort of terror device. The area where the passengers sit is pressurized, so a barometric altimeter probably wouldn't indicate the true altitude.

On the other hand, it's not clear whether the warning is directed to the TSA's screening of checked baggage or of passengers and their personal effects. I'd pay extra attention to these altimeters if they were checked in baggage, but that's the opinion of a non-law-enforcement person.