"Official confirms report." "Authorities have been notified." Do you know anyone personally who is an actual "official" or "authority"? Are you one?

I’m a little bit curious as to what an “authority” looks like. Do they wear a special Authority hat? Do officials have a badge that says “Official”?

I always imagine little fragments of conversation like this:

“What do you want to be when you grow up?”
“Oh, I want to be an official.”

“What kind of work do you do?”
“I’m proud to be an authority.”

It’s pretty hot where I am right now. Maybe my brain is affected.