--- title: "Airport Jetpack Sighting May Have Actually Been Person-Shaped Drone" description: "According to documents obtained by The Drive, pilots believe they may have spotted an inflatable person-shaped drone instead of the real thing in September." date: "2021-01-20" modified: "2021-01-20" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/airport-jetpack-sighting-person-shaped-drone" categories: - "Drones" - "Robotics" - "Robots and Machines" tags: - "jetpack" - "the digest" - "ufos" --- # Airport Jetpack Sighting May Have Actually Been Person-Shaped Drone ![According to documents obtained by The Drive, pilots believe they may have spotted an inflatable person-shaped drone instead of the real thing in September.]() *\Image: RC Media World via YouTube\* ## Unidentified Flying Object In September, several pilots in the airspace near Los Angeles International Airport [spotted something odd](): what appeared to be "a guy in a jetpack," as one bewildered pilot told LA’s tower, flying around 3,000 feet. Several months later, and after investigation by local law enforcement, the FAA and the FBI, it's still unclear what the airline pilots saw. Even a December [sighting caught on video]() did little to make sense of the phenomenon. But according to a [new report by *The Drive*](), we have a new possible explanation: a drone hoisting an inflatable jetpack-wearing dummy. As seen in the video embedded at the bottom of this post, a custom made drone built by German RC enthusiast Ralph Kayser, or something similar to it, could indeed probably fool unsuspecting airline pilots — at least from a distance. ## Inflatable Jetpack "Mike Bumberger, our LEAP \[Law Enforcement Assistance Program\] Agent shared that the FBI interviewed the American Airlines pilot that made the jetpack sighting," John Blanco, the aviation safety manager at the Los Angeles Flight Standards District Office, wrote in a September email obtained by *The Drive*. "The pilot said what he saw was exactly like the drone in the YouTube video below." Here's the YouTube video in question. To its credit, *The Drive* had also [previously pointed]() to the exact same video as an explanation for the sightings. https://youtu.be/1nNBRShBVVM *The Drive* also was able to cross out local personal aircraft maker Jetpack Aviation from the list of suspects. Emails obtained by the news outlet show that David Mayman, the chief test pilot at Jetpack Aviation, told investigators that they hadn't flown for months. Mayman also told investigators that he didn't believe any jetpack operators would be able to sustain flight at 3,000 feet. **READ MORE:** [Airliner Pilot Says Jet Pack Guy Over Los Angeles Looked Just Like This Crazy Drone]() \[*The Drive*\] **More on the sightings:** *[Video of LAX Airport Jet Pack Man Appears]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()