You Have 20 Minutes to Hide a Paper Clip From the FBI — What Would You Do?

Would you like to play a game? If so, now's the perfect time to put your creativity to the test.

On Oct. 2, 2023, TikTok creator Stormie Goldsmith (@stormie.goldsmith) posed a question: If you had 20 minutes to hide a paper clip in your house and the FBI was going to search for it, where would you hide it?

OK, this may sound easy — but it's not. There are so many options, but when you think about it, the FBI knows exactly what they're doing and will likely find the paper clip very quickly. If you're struggling to come up with an answer, don't fret. Many have already revealed their hiding spots, so hopefully, those will spark some inspiration!

With that said, keep scrolling to hear where people would hide a paper clip in 20 minutes.

In the now-viral video, Stormie immediately answered her own question. She looked at the options around her room before claiming, "If I had enough time, I would melt a candle, put it in there, and then let the candle cool off. It would harden and hopefully be white and just not show it."

If that didn't work, Stormie said she would head into her pantry and grab one of the unopened chip bags. From there, she would "open it carefully, put the paper clip in there," and then seal it with a flat iron. She claimed the FBI wouldn't think to look there — but now they would!

As for a third option, Stormie disclosed that she would hide the paper clip in a bottle of lotion "because when [has] the FBI ever dumped out lotion?" Once again, they'll do it now because you gave them a reason!

At the time of writing, Stormie's video has more than 3.8 million views and over 4,700 comments. Many fellow TikTok users took to the comment section to share their clever (or not-so-clever) paper clip hiding places.

"Eat the paper clip and help them search the house," reads the top comment.

One person said, "I would brush my hair a ton and fill my hair brush with hair, then put the paper clip under the hair in the brush." Please make sure you remember this the next time you brush your hair!

"Put it in my password diary from 3rd grade," a second user wrote, while a third added, "Put it in my mascara tube."

This person shared that they would "tape [it] on the bottom of the door," while another said they would "tape it to the top of the ceiling fan." Either way, these are pretty decent hiding spots.

"I'd just drop it and hope it falls into the dimension all my hair ties and pens are," someone else joked.

Another user pointed out, "I'd put it with something else metal bc they'd prob bring metal detectors or something."

"I'd hide it in an Amazon box in my garage," a TikTok user penned. Honestly, we love this because we all have plenty of Amazon boxes — but we think the FBI would raid all of them and find it eventually.

Others offered some ridiculous hiding places:

• "Inside a pickle in a pickle jar"
• "Under the rocks in my fish tank"
• "The cat litter box"
• "I would put it in an enormous pile of other paper clips"
• "I would straighten it and wear it as a ring"
• "In my curtain rod"
• "Um… I'm flushing it down the toilet… they'll never find it…"

Now that you've heard other people's answers, we'll ask again: If you only had 20 minutes to hide a paper clip from the FBI, where would you hide it? Let us know (or don't, in case this actually happens one day).