Is the “Jet Pack Guy” who has been spotted several times flying miles in the sky near Los Angeles airport really a “guy”? Or is it just a drone dressed up to look like a guy?
That’s a new question that has arisen with release of new government emails.
John Greenewald, who runs a site called The Black Vault, recently filed Freedom Of Information Act requests to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) about the sightings, which began on Aug. 30. A crew on planes flying into LAX reported seeing a jet pack flying near them at about 3,000 feet.
According to The Drive, the FAA’s first notice about the sighting read, “MULTIPLE AIRCRAFT REPORTED MAN IN JET PACK MANEUVERING AT 3,000 FEET ON 10 MILE FINAL RUNWAY 25R. NO IMPACT TO OPERATIONS OR EVASIVE ACTION TAKEN. LAPD AIR SUPPORT NOTIFIED.”
On Sept. 2, Aviation Safety Manager at the Van Nuys Flight Standards District Office Victor Goodell, sent an email that shed light on the sighting. “I spoke with David Mayman, Chief Test Pilot, Jetpack Aviation, out of Van Nuys, last night,” Goodell’s email read. “He confirmed that they have not flown for months. He stated that he does not believe there are any ‘Jetpack’ operators who could get to 3000’ and sustain it.”
An email the next day from Los Angeles Flight Standards District Office Aviation Safety Manager John Blanco shed more light.
“Mike Bumberger, our LEAP Agent, shared that the FBI interviewed the American Airlines pilot that made the jetpack sighting. The pilot said what he saw was exactly like the drone in the Youtube video below,” Blanco said.
Back in October, a “person” with a jet pack was spotted near Los Angeles International Airport again this week, flying more than a mile high in the air.
The Federal Aviation Administration 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.
It’s unclear if the jet-packer is the same person seen flying around the airport on Aug. 30. An airline pilot landing at LAX that day 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 in to 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.
Related: Jet-Packer Seen Near Los Angeles Airport Again—At 6,000 Feet