With airports bracing for Y2K and possible terrorist attacks, the U.S. Customs Service has begun using new high-tech scanners that can see through passengers' clothing and search for contraband with an X- ray image that shows the naked body.

The scanner, already in use at Kennedy Airport, can display on a monitor hidden guns, knives, batteries, digital watches, explosive materials and packages of drugs secreted under clothing. Supporters say scanners can help in the fight against terrorism and illegal drug importation.

Customs Commissioner Raymond Kelly says the body scanners, including the one at Kennedy Airport, give travelers the choice of avoiding the physical contact of an external body search at the hands of an inspector.