New emails that have come to light suggest the infamous ‘Jet Pack Guy’ in Los Angeles may not have been a person at all.
John Greenewald of The Black Vault filed Freedom Of Information Act requests to the Federal Aviation Administration in regards to the investigation into the first jet pack sighting at LAX on August 30. Airline crew from planes flying into LAX had reported seeing a jet pack flying near them at 3,000ft.
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.’
While multiple aircraft reported the man flying in a jet pack at 3,000ft, none of the air traffic controllers caught the incident on their radar.
Pictured: A video from Sling Pilot Academy appeared to capture ‘Jet Pack Guy’ in December
The sighting came almost four months after a ‘Jet Pack Guy’ was seen flying around LAX
On September 2, Aviation Safety Manager at the Van Nuys Flight Standards District Office Victor Goodell sent an email about the incident that touched upon a vital discussion he had.
‘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.’
That email doesn’t dispute the possibility of there being a man in a jet pack flying around LAX, but it casts serious doubt on it.
An email the next day from Los Angeles Flight Standards District Office Aviation Safety Manager John Blanco is in a similar vein.
Pictured: A ‘Jet Pack Man,’ but likely not the same one, flies in a 2018 competition in Cannes
While none of the sightings have confirmed the presence of a man at LAX in August, the possibility still exists it was a person flying through the air instead of a drone
‘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.
The YouTube video he referenced, posted by RC Media World in 2019, demonstrates the operation of an RC drone that looks exactly like someone in military fatigues wearing a jet pack, meaning the person reportedly seen may have just been a drone.
In mid-October, a China Airlines flight crew also claimed to see a man with a jet pack at 6,000ft.
A video shot by someone at Sling Pilot Academy during a training flight in December appeared to show the ‘Jet Pack Man’ again, this time 10 miles away from LAX over Palos Verdes.
The clip is about 30 seconds long and could be a man with a jet pack, but could just as easily be a drone in the distance.
Pictured: A prototype of what Jetpack Aviation is trying to create for users
Mayman, who is the founder of Jetpack Aviation, previously told CBS that he didn’t think the initial LAX sighting could be a jet pack.
‘It’s very, very unlikely with the existing technology,’ Mayman said. ‘They’d run out of fuel, they use fuel too quickly.’
Last February, Jetmen In Dubai conducted a test where they were able to send someone with a jet pack 5,905ft in the air.
Jetpack Aviation, meanwhile, is working on being able to get someone with a jet pack 15,000ft in the air.
Meanwhile, there has been no confirmation either way about what was seen at LAX back at the end of August.