A Man, A Plane and A Mask: How Easy Is It To Disguise Yourself?

NewsFeed smells even tighter airport security regulations in the future. 

Usually the Internet is the place to find shady products that make you look younger, not older. But now you can find the same sort of aging mask that a young man recently used in order to board a flight in Hong Kong, completely disguising his identity.

The Globe and Mail reported that a young man, who was seeking refugee status, boarded an Air Canada flight headed for Vancouver wearing a silicone mask that made him appear to be an elderly, white man. And it worked! (A feat which clearly raises the question of whether airport security regulations really make us any safer.)

Your first thought might be, how did he actually pull this off? You second thought might be, where can I get one of these nifty, super-believable masks?

In answer to your (possible) first question: Using an Aeroplan card (which doesn’t feature a photo) for identification and an American man’s boarding pass, the man made it through security. His true identity wasn’t discovered until he had boarded the flight and headed to the bathroom, where he shed the mask.

And in answer to your (possible) second question: Silicone masks that create such a realistic effect are available online, according to CNN. The masks can cost nearly $700 but the effect is amazingly believable. Check out the video below:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-Kts7IYctc&feature=player_embedded#!]

The realistic look of the mask goes a long way to explain how the young man in Hong Kong was able to fool airport personnel.

(See the top 10 travel trends.)

The possibilities for such a mask run the spectrum from fun (pranks galore!) to dangerous (concealing your identity while sneaking onto a flight is obviously a huge breach in security). Though NewsFeed doesn’t think the same trick will work twice. After the press coverage this story has received, airport regulations are likelier to get even tighter. (via the Globe and Mail and CNN)