An airline pilot near Los Angeles International Airport may have spotted a jet pack on Wednesday night, according to a new report.
“A Boeing 747 pilot reported seeing an object that might have resembled a jet pack 15 miles east of LAX at 5,000 feet altitude,” a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) spokesman said in a statement, according to CBS-LA. “Out of an abundance of caution, air traffic controllers alerted other pilots in the vicinity.”
The object was seen at about 5,000 feet by a Boeing 747 pilot about 15 miles east of the airport, a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman said.
In recordings obtained by the TV station, an air traffic controller was heard talking to a pilot.
ATC: Skywest 3626, use caution. The jet man is back, let me know if you see him.
ATC: Skywest 3626, did you see the UFO?
Pilot: We were looking, but we did not see Iron Man.
The sightings is only the latest in a string that stretches back to last year. In September 2020, an airline pilot landing at LAX reported seeing “a guy in a jetpack” flying about 300 yards off his plane’s wing — at an altitude of 3,000 feet. The pilot was on his final approach to the busy airport and was about 10 miles from the tarmac.
The American Airlines pilot radioed his sighting into the flight control tower: “Tower, American 1997, we just passed a guy in a jetpack.”
“American 1997, OK, were they off to your left side or right side?” the air traffic controller asked.
“Off the left side, maybe 300 yards or so, about our altitude,” the pilot said, FOX-11 reported.
A second pilot also reported seeing the jetpack guy. Fox 11 reported a Skywest pilot confirmed the sighting:
Skywest Flight: “We just saw the guy passing by us in the jetpack.”
Then the tower alerted an incoming Jet Blue flight to the reported hazard:
Tower: “Jet Blue 23, use caution, a person in a jetpack reported 300 yards south of the LA final at about 3,000 feet, 10 mile final.”
Jet Blue 23: “Jet Blue 23, we heard and we are definitely looking.”
Another pilot chimed in: “Only in L.A.”
Two months later, the FAA said in a statement to USA Today that “a China Airlines crew reported seeing what appeared to be someone in a jet pack at an approximate altitude of 6,000 feet, about seven miles northwest of Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) around 1:45 p.m. Wednesday. The FAA alerted local law enforcement and will look into the report.”
In air traffic control recordings reported by ABC News, someone can be heard asking about the report, saying, “Flying object? Was it a UAV [Unmanned Aerial Vehicle] or was it a jet pack?”
“There was a jet pack reported about seven miles west of you. There’s no way you can go and check that out can you?” another person in the recording says.
Some doubt that “Jet Pack Guy” is a real human. Instead, they think it’s a drone made up to look like a person.