Officials were stumped after pilots reported seeing a jetpack in the air near LAX. Now, video shows it may have just been a human-shaped balloon.

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• A number of pilots have reported seeing a jetpack flying close to LAX since August of final yr.
• Newly launched video captured by LAPD exhibits a human-shaped balloon zooming by means of the air.
• The FAA and FBI are nonetheless investigating, however stated one principle is that pilots have been seeing balloons.

Since August 2020, pilots have reported seeing what seemed to be an individual with a jetpack flying at excessive altitudes close to Los Angeles Worldwide Airport, prompting a federal investigation.

Now, newly launched video from the Los Angeles Police Division gives one other rationalization: It might be a human-shaped balloon zooming by way of the air.

The video, which was obtained by Insider and first revealed by KTLA, exhibits what seems to be an inflatable object resembling Jack Skellington, the primary character of the animated film "The Nightmare Earlier than Christmas," shifting at a excessive velocity.

The video was captured by an LAPD helicopter crew close to Century Metropolis in November 2020. A picture launched alongside the video additionally exhibits the Jack Skellington-like determine suspended within the air.

—Sam Sweeney (@SweeneyABC) November 2, 2021

"The FAA has labored intently with the FBI to research each reported jetpack sighting. Up to now, none of those sightings have been verified," an FAA spokesperson advised KTLA.

"One working principle is that pilots may need seen balloons," the FAA and FBI stated in separate statements to the outlet, including that they're nonetheless investigating the studies.

There have been a minimum of three reported sightings of "jetpack man," as he had been dubbed on Twitter, beginning in August 2020, when two pilots informed air visitors management that they had noticed a person with a jetpack.

"Tower, American 1997 — we simply handed a man in a jetpack," an American Airways pilot coming in from Philadelphia stated, in accordance with The New York Times. He advised the management tower the alleged jetpack was round 300 yards from the aircraft. Moments later, a Jet Blue pilot additionally reported seeing a jetpack.

The preliminary sightings prompted each the FAA and FBI to launch investigations, that are nonetheless ongoing.

Potential "jetpack man" sightings have been reported once more in October 2020 and July 2021.