That's not what this is. First, this guy is in the US on a layover between Europe and Australia [1]. And second, these questions are being asked of tourists. A

That's not what this is. First, this guy is in the US on a layover between Europe and Australia [1]. And second, these questions are being asked of tourists. And before you say things are not affordable to people in those professions, flights are under $200 right now. A person of modest means could feasibly save up for an overseas vacation. My theory is they have KPIs to hit and found denying entry based on challenging field-related puzzles is a decent way to do it. An indicator of how many actual thwarted espionage or terror events is likely harder to quantify (and for most, it's probably zero). [1] I was wrong. He was on a 10 day vacation.