Page 5 - IAV Digital Magazine #534

FBI: LAX ‘Jetpack Man' Sightings May Have Been Balloons
iAV - Antelope Valley Digital Magazine
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-pgBoePwEI
By Ben Hooper
Nov. 3 (UPI) -
- The FBI said sightings of a "jet- pack man" flying near Los Angeles International Airport may have been sparked by balloons.
Pilots flying in and out of LAX in late 2020 reported multiple sight- ings of a man piloting a jetpack near the airport, and at least two pilots reported seeing a similar scene in late July of this year.
"A Boeing 747 pilot reported see- ing an object that might have resem-
bled a jet pack 15 miles east of LAX at 5,000 feet alti- tude," an FAA rep- resentative said after the most recent sightings. "Out of an abun- dance of caution, air traffic con- trollers alerted other pilots in the vicinity."
The FBI released a statement Tuesday offering one possible explanation for the sightings.
"The FBI has worked closely with the FA A to investigate report- ed jetpack sight- ings in the Los Angeles area, none of which
have been veri- fied," the FBI said in a
statement release d to KABC-TV. "One working the- ory is that pilots might have seen balloons."
A photo captured by a Los Angeles Police Department helicopter in November
2020 and released this week shows a balloon in the shape of Jack Skellington, a character from 1993 film The Nightmare Before Christmas, flying over the Hollywood Hills area.
iAV - Antelope Valley Digital Magazine