It started like something out of a sci-fi movie. A commercial pilot, descending into Los Angeles International Airport, radioed an urgent message to air traffic control:
"Tower, we just passed a guy in a jetpack."
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That was August 2020, and it wasn’t a joke. The pilot, flying an American Airlines jet at 3,000 feet, had seen something that shouldn't have been there—a lone figure soaring through the sky, keeping pace with a passenger plane. Within minutes, another pilot confirmed the sighting.
Air traffic controllers were baffled. Nothing on radar. No official flight plans. Just a mysterious, unidentified aviator defying the limits of conventional flight over one of the busiest airspaces in the world.
Then, it happened again. And again. Over the next two years, multiple pilots and witnesses reported sightings of the so-called "Jetpack Man" near LAX. Sometimes at altitudes of 6,000 feet, well beyond the capabilities of most consumer-grade jetpacks. Yet no video evidence, no credible suspect, and no definitive explanation ever surfaced.
Theories swirled. Some believed it was a test pilot for a classified military project, while others suspected a high-tech hoax involving drones made to resemble a human figure. A few even speculated about futuristic propulsion technology, unknown to the public. The FBI and FAA launched investigations but found nothing conclusive.
In 2022, officials suggested that the "jetpack" was likely a human-shaped drone, but no one ever claimed responsibility. To this day, the identity of the LA Jetpack Man remains unknown—one of modern aviation’s strangest unsolved mysteries.