US: Officials disclose a ‘working theory’ about jetpack mystery over Los Angeles

The first pilot report of a person flying a jetpack high over Los Angeles was enough to start a federal investigation. The second caused a stir on airport channels, with an air traffic controller remarking, “Only in LA.” Months after that, a controller warned, “The jetpack guy is back.” The authorities now say the jetpack guy may in fact be more of a balloon guy. “One working theory is that pilots might have seen balloons,” Rick Breitenfeldt, a FAA spokesman, said on Wednesday. The FAA made its statement after NBC 4 News in Los Angeles on Monday published police video and photos showing what appeared to be an inflatable, life-size or larger-than-life-size balloon in the shape of a person floating above the Beverly Hills and Holmby Hills areas. The station observed that it looked like Jack Skellington, the spindly looking and sharply dressed main character from Tim Burton’s 1993 film “The Nightmare Before Christmas.”The images were captured by a Los Angeles Police helicopter crew in November 2020, about two weeks after a second jetpack sighting, and around Halloween, the station said. “The FAA has worked closely with the FBI to investigate every reported jetpack sighting,” Breitenfeldt said. “So far, none of these sightings have been verified.” The Los Angeles Police Department declined to comment, saying that the investigation was being run by the FAA and the FBI. The FBI said that it was investigating the reported sightings but had not been able to verify them. Like the FAA, the bureau said, “one working theory is that pilots might have seen balloons.”<br/>