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'Satan's fidget spinner' gets grounded by the TSA

Normal fidget spinners are permitted on planes, but this deadly looking item was forbidden from flying the skies, friendly or otherwise.

Gael Cooper
CNET editor Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, a journalist and pop-culture junkie, is co-author of "Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the '70s and '80s," as well as "The Totally Sweet '90s." She's been a journalist since 1989, working at Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, Twin Cities Sidewalk, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and NBC News Digital. She's Gen X in birthdate, word and deed. If Marathon candy bars ever come back, she'll be first in line.
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Gael Cooper

Sure, you might get bored on a long airplane trip and decide to amuse and distract yourself with a fidget spinner. But maybe not this one.

On Friday, the Transportation Security Administration took to its famed Instagram account to post a photo of an item it dubbed "Satan's fidget spinner" (looks more like a shuriken, or throwing star, from here). 

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"Satan's fidget spinner was discovered in a carry-on bag at the Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport (SAV)," the TSA caption reads. "While normal #FidgetSpinners are permitted, this one is a weapon."

Of course, the comments were classic. While some commenters argued that the item shouldn't be called a weapon, others just had fun with the TSA's nickname for it.

"All fidget spinners are Satan spinners," wrote riley_taft.

And one reader, ohioan, made a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reference, noting, "That looks more like Shredder's fidget spinner."

But another had a very specific explanation. "This one is basically a JP shuriken from Overwatch used by the character called Genji," wrote sitiusz.

And one reader offered dating advice: "The more dangerous a fidget spinner is, the less likely you will get a girlfriend," wrote scientific.cassette.maan.