“Our motto is ‘You never know!’”

What happens to the lost luggage you don't retrieve? If you were flying in the US it probably ends up at the  Unclaimed Baggage Center in Scottsboro, Alabama.

"Only about half of a single percent of checked bags do not arrive at their final destination, and within a week, around 98 percent of those bags have been safely reunited with their owners. If a bag’s owner cannot be found after 90 days, however, the center purchases the bags through a salvage agreement with the airlines."

It's a 40,000-square foot space chock full of anything you can imagine, from fax machines to Sam, the taxidermy ram. Apparently some people schedule annual family vacations around it.



More: Smithsonian