Originally Posted by
N639DL
...I was directed to the circular backscatter...
I was wearing cargo pants at the time. I obviously emptied my pockets before going through, but I almost always keep things in my front pockets.
There was a female agent telling people when to go in, etc. and there was a male agent at the back. A few seconds after I exited the backscatter, he asked if I had anything in my pockets. I said that I didn't have anything in my pockets. Then the agent said "Ok, I'm just going to pat you down real quick," and then proceeded to briefly pat down the pocket area on my pants. He didn't pat down anything else.
I'm just curious as to whether this was necessary or not. The only other time I've been through a backscatter was 2 years ago and I had no problems with that.
This wasn't backscatter. It was an millimeter wave scanner with automated target detection (ATD). The ATD routinely detects what it perceives as anomalies on the bulky pockets of cargo pants/shorts, even when the pockets are empty. Whenever an anomaly is detected by the scanner, the screener is required to pat down the area, as long as the area isn't bare skin (like an exposed arm or leg, bald head or face, etc.).