Back Again Over LAX: Pilot Reports 'Jet Pack Man' Sighting

American authorities were probing pilots' reports that they saw a man flying a jetpack, similar to one pictured in this 2018 image from Cannes, France AFP / VALERY HACHE

The "jet pack man" is back on the Los Angeles skies. Pilots flying in and out of Los Angeles were warned Wednesday about a man flying in a jetpack, after a pilot reported the sighting to the airport. At least three similar sighting reports were made last year.

The latest sighting was reported near the Los Angeles International Airport, when a pilot called air traffic control on a “possible jet pack man in sight,” KABC-TV reported. The report was made by the pilot of flight 363, a cargo flight operated by Kalitta Air, at 6:12 p.m. Wednesday.

“The jet man is back,” an air traffic controller reportedly said to a separate SkyWest flight.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) also confirmed to the outlet that pilots within the vicinity were notified by air traffic controllers following the sighting. “A Boeing 747 pilot reported seeing an object that might have resembled a jet pack 15 miles east of LAX at 5,000 feet altitude,” an FAA spokesperson told the outlet. "No unusual objects appeared on radar around LAX on Wednesday evening," the FAA said in a statement.

Recordings obtained by CBS Los Angeles revealed that the SkyWest 3626 pilot called by the air traffic control personnel did not see the reported jetpack man.

ATC: Skywest 3626, did you see the UFO?

Pilot: We were looking, but we did not see Iron Man.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has launched a probe into the latest incident. Last year, a series of jet pack incidents were reported near LAX, prompting an investigation by the FBI. The investigations were launched jointly by the FAA and the FBI as the agencies said flying objects near the airport could pose dangers to aircraft flying around.

At that time, FBI assistant director for the Los Angeles Field Office, Kristi Johnson, said one of the theories was that the flying object may have been a balloon or a drone resembling “a jet pack or person.” The other theory was that it could have been an “actual person with a jet pack.”

In one of last year's incidents, a China Airlines crew reported in September what appeared to be a person in a jet pack who was flying around 6,000 feet northwest of the airport.

Speaking about last year’s sightings, CEO of jetpack maker Jetpack Aviation, David Mayman said it was unlikely an actual person would fly around the LAX as “only a handful of companies” were working on jetpack technology, NBC reported. Mayman added that jetpacks made by the company were very unlikely to reach the heights reported in the sightings.