ORLANDO, Fla. About 700 Greyhound passengers got a taste of what its like to fly the unfriendly skies when the Transportation Security Administration conducted a random screening at the Greyhound Bus Station here last month.

An army of agents descended on the Greyhound terminal and proceeded to run 690 passengers through baggage and personal inspections that are seldom seen at bus terminals.

One Orlando news outlet called the screening "a sting" and said it was set up and coordinated by a TSA unit called the Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response Team, which goes by the Top Gun name of VIPR.

According to one news account, the operation deployed workers from multiple agencies to check baggage and passengers "in an effort to augment safety for the traveling public."

Others were less generous in their assessment of the security sting.

Some internet postings suggested it was a thinly disguised effort to round up illegal aliens. More hard-core critics said that because of its randomness it amounted to unreasonable search and seizure and therefore violated the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

A TSA official said the idea of the inspection was to keep off guard terrorists and others who mean harm, thereby improving safety for passengers and workers.

However, its hard to imagine one inspection in three years keeping anyone off balance except, of course, the passengers who had to put up with it. Officials admitted the screening was not in response to any specific threat at the bus station.

Bottom line, it appears the event was unwarranted, unwelcomed and an anathema to an industry that often touts its hassle-free travel environment.

Although the TSA is best known for its agents at airports, the agencys Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response teams apparently stage periodic operations at bus and train stations, ports and other transportation centers. The program has been around for about three years.

Last months daylong event was the first at a Greyhound station in Florida, said John Daly, TSA security director for the Orlando region.

Normally, security at the Orlando station consists of two security agents who have hand-held metal detectors to scan people, and who also inspect luggage by hand.

For its sting, TSA brought in 50 folks from agencies including TSA, Orlando police, the Orange County Sheriff's Office and U.S. Customs and Border Protection who patted down passengers.

Behavior and explosives experts and dogs trained to sniff out bombs and drugs also were used. Everyone who walked into the terminal went through a metal detector like those at airports, and baggage was screened.

Five people were arrested on illegal-immigration charges, and one person was picked up on a local warrant. Glass bottles, knives, a single bullet and a stun gun were found.

Michael Neal, 66, of Nottingham, England, was forced to remove a box cutter from his carry-on bag and place it in his checked luggage. He said he uses it to peel fruit, and he said he didn't mind the inconvenience.

But Bryce Williams, 49, on his way to Minneapolis with his son, wasnt happy with the high level of security, particularly after he was forced to shift some tools from a carry-on bag to checked luggage.

Father and son said they skipped the airport because of the security hassles. Now, they're rethinking their choice.

"I'm driving from now on," said Williams.