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Since You Asked: TSA rule on necklaces is to benefit customers Wednesday Jan 24, 2018 at 12:01 AM Why does TSA require that one move one's necklace to their back when going through the body scanner? Several times I have been wearing a small to medium-sized necklace on my bare upper chest, and the agents have required that I spin the necklace around so the pendant is on my back. What gives? If I did somehow manage to conceal a weapon in a smallish pendant, how does this become apparent by moving it to my back? Of course, I have gotten used to the laptop, belt, shoes, jacket, plastic bag of liquids, but now I have to move my necklace? I go to the trouble of getting the TSA pre-check certification, but still I unfortunately get randomly chosen to undergo inspection. If you can inform me of a rational reason for this requirement, it might help to mitigate my annoyance. — Heidi J., via email We think we can ease your irritation with the answer we got from a Transportation Security Administration worker, Heidi.  He said necklaces can set off the alarm on the body scanner, requiring the person wearing the necklace to submit to a pat-down. If your necklace is hanging down on your chest, especially near your bosom, it would probably make you feel awkward and uncomfortable to have someone touching you there. So TSA agents ask you to move the necklace to the back so they can pat down your back area if needed, the worker said. The request to move the necklace to your back is to improve your comfort level, he said. If you simply don't want to deal with the necklace issue at all, you could pack it away beforehand and then put it on later, he suggested. — Send questions to “Since You Asked,” Mail Tribune Newsroom, P.O. Box 1108, Medford, OR 97501; by fax to 541-776-4376; or by email to [email protected]. We’re sorry, but the volume of questions received prevents us from answering all of them.