LAX 'Jet Pack Man' may not have been man at all, newly released LAPD video reveals
FBI says pilots who reported sightings ‘might have seen balloons’
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Has the mystery of the elusive "jetpack guy" seen flying around the Los Angeles area finally been solved?
Images and video released this week by the LAPD appear to show an inflatable balloon resembling Jack Skellington from the film "The Nightmare Before Christmas" — not an actual human that has been the basis of numerous pilot reports since August 2020.
"The FBI has worked closely with the FAA to investigate reported jetpack sightings in the Los Angeles area, none of which have been verified," the FBI told Fox11 in a statement. "One working theory is that pilots might have seen balloons."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}An image released by the Los Angeles Police Department showing the "jetpack guy" flying above the city.
FBI INVESTIGATING LATEST ALLEGED LOS ANGELES ‘JETPACK GUY’ SIGHTING
The mystery aeronaut first came to the public’s attention over a year ago, when an American Airlines pilot flying near Los Angeles International Airport told its control tower that he saw a "guy in a jetpack" about 3,000 feet up in the sky while approaching for a landing, Fox11 reported.
Another airline crew reported a sighting in October 2020, this time at 6,000 feet.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Then in December, video surfaced appearing to show an unidentified flying man soaring 3,000 feet above Palos Verdes near Catalina Island. It was captured by a flight instructor from the Sling Pilot Academy, a local aviation school.
This still frame from a video released by the LAPD shows the object floating in the air.
In July this year, there was another reported sighting.
A commercial pilot radioed it in about 15 miles east of Los Angeles International Airport at an elevation of 5,000 feet.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Use caution, the jetpack guy is back," said one air traffic alert.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
"Did you see a UFO?" an air traffic controller asked a pilot.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"We were looking, but we did not see Iron Man," the pilot responded.
Fox News’ Michael Ruiz and the Associated Press contributed to this report.