A last-minute goodbye kiss was responsible for a massive security scare at a US airport, after a man ducked under a barrier to bid a friend farewell.
New Jersey's Newark International Airport went on high alert, sparking huge delays for passengers, after an unidentified man was spotted in the "sterile" zone.
He was not caught or even identified.
The local Star-Ledger newspaper reports CCTV revealed the feared intruder was simply a man wanting a last kiss from a departing woman.
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Embarrassing security breach
He passed under a rope barrier and - with the woman - went "hand in hand toward the boarding area," US Senator Frank Lautenberg told the paper.
The embarrassing revelation follows the brief shutdown of Bakersfield airport in California on Tuesday when a passenger tried to bring five bottles on to the plane.
Explosives tests initially came back positive, police said, but in the end the substance turned out to be honey.
US airports are jittery following a Christmas Day incident in which a Nigerian man allegedly tried to set off an explosive device on a plane bound for Detroit.
President Barack Obama has called that a major national security breach, and vowed to take action to prevent it happening again.
