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.

Photo taken November 2020 by a helicopter crew from Los Angeles Police Department near Century City, California. Los Angeles Police Department
Numerous pilots reported that they saw a jetpack fly near LAX in August last year.

LAPD has released a video that shows a balloon with a human shape zooming through the air.

FBI and FAA are still investigating but one theory suggests that pilots saw balloons.

Pilots reported that they saw a person flying at high altitudes from Los Angeles International Airport in August 2020. This prompted a federal investigation.

A new video released by the Los Angeles Police Department now offers another explanation. It could be a balloon with a human shape zooming through the air.

The video was taken by Insider and published first by KTLA. It shows an inflatable object resembling Jack Skellington in motion at high speed.

In November 2020, a LAPD helicopter crew captured the video near Century City. The video includes an image that shows Jack Skellington-like figures suspended in the air.

"The FBI and the FAA have worked together to investigate every reported sighting of a jetpack. "So far, none have been confirmed," an FAA spokesperson said to KTLA.

"One working theory is pilots may have seen balloons," said the FBI and FAA in separate statements to the outlet. They also stated that they are still investigating these reports.

At least three sightings have been reported of "jetpackman," as he was known on Twitter. It all started in August 2020 when two pilots said they saw a man carrying a jetpack.

According to The New York Times, an American Airlines pilot who was coming in from Philadelphia stated that he had just passed a man in a jetpack at Tower, American 1997. The pilot told the control tower that the jetpack was located about 300 yards away from the plane. A Jet Blue pilot reported also seeing the jetpack moments later.

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Initial sightings led both the FBI and FAA to initiate investigations. These investigations are ongoing.

Sightings of potential "jetpack men" were again reported in July 2021 and October 2020.

Insider has the original article.