Travelers left behind millions of items in 2025, including items as eccentric as a samurai sword, as expensive as diamond earrings and as historic as a World War II flight jacket, according to the new report on unclaimed baggage.
Unclaimed Baggage, which bills itself as the nation’s only lost baggage retailer, released its annual lost baggage report Thursday, listing its most interesting findings regarding bags that airports have been unable to return to passengers.
“Each year, I am amazed by the treasures discovered in luggage and what they reveal about our society,” Bryan Owens, the company’s CEO, said in a statement. “After more than 55 years of recovering lost and discarded items for good, we often think we’ve seen it all. But then we discover something like a matching set of samurai swords, a fully assembled robot, a Dolce & Gabbana bejeweled jacket, or gold-plated golf clubs, and it reminds us why the ‘Annual Report’ exists.”
Fox News Digital has contacted Unclaimed Baggage for comment.
‘FILTHY FORTUNES’ STAR SAYS MILLIONS OF AMERICANS ARE UNKNOWINGLY SITTING ON $10,000 TO $20,000 JACKPOTS IN THEIR HOUSES
A pair of samurai swords and a World War II flight jacket were left behind by the travelers. (Unclaimed Baggage / Unknown)
The report says that while 99.9 percent of checked bags eventually return to their owners, “a rare few take a detour — one that ends in the Appalachian foothills of Scottsboro, Alabama,” where the unclaimed baggage store is located.
The top 10 finds in the company’s third annual report include a robot, a bionic knee, 10-karat gold teeth grills, a meteorite, a pair of fire poi used for fire dancing, a one-ounce ingot of pure Australian gold, a matching set of samurai swords, a beekeeping suit, gold-plated golf clubs and a teak didgeridoo.
The five most expensive finds include white diamond earrings estimated to be worth more than $43,000, a Rolex stainless steel watch with 18k yellow gold and diamond dial worth about $35,000, a Tosca bass clarinet worth $17,500, a Balenciaga leather jacket worth $12,500 and a T530 thermal camera worth more than $12,000.
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What the report describes as “strange” finds include a stuffed deer shape, a frog purse, a pre-World War I U.S. Army bayonet, a giant stuffed goose, a long bone specimen, an armadillo purse, a pack of 12 sardines, a fake skeleton, a suitcase filled with rat poison and a feather bow tie.
A passenger forgot his meteorite. (Unclaimed Baggage / Unknown)
The biggest sports find was signed boxing gloves from undefeated boxing champion Terence Crawford, the biggest fashion find was Miss North Dakota USA 2025 state costume designed by Ryan Castillo, and the biggest find in the entire world was a Tibetan singing bowl.
A 1960s Ken doll with carrying case was the best pop culture find, vintage Elvis cassettes and Bobby Helms’ Jingle Bell Rock made the best music find, and a Commemorative coin of 1893 made the best currency find.
A robot that couldn’t get home. (Unclaimed Baggage / Unknown)
The largest historical discovery was a US Army Air Force A-2 leather flight jacket and the highest technological discovery was a Kellogg candlestick telephone from the 1900s.
The company has noticed trends in travelers’ luggage carrying “more pop collectibles,” like Labubus, than ever before. There was a “shift toward accessible luxury…without the high price tag,” many books sold, especially from “The Housemaid” author Freida McFadden, and more gold traveled than had been seen “in years.”
“From 24-karat dice to gold-plated golf clubs, this precious metal has appeared in suitcases as both a statement and a store of value,” the report says.
Last year, Owens told Fox News that the company recycles about a third of items, and donate another third to charity.
Miss North Dakota USA 2025’s state costume, designed by Ryan Castillo, was fashion’s greatest find. (Unclaimed Baggage / Unknown)
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At the time, Owens said one of the strangest things he had seen was “a well-traveled, almost worn-out Gucci suitcase filled with Egyptian objects this dates back to 1500 BC.
Owens added that airlines “put a lot of effort” into reuniting the bags with their owners because “it is much more to their economic advantage to reunite you with your bag than to sell us your unclaimed bags.”
