On July 28, 2021, an unidentified individual referred to as “Jet Pack Man” was sighted near Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). The sighting occurred at an altitude of approximately 5,000 feet, with the individual reportedly flying alongside commercial planes. Air traffic controllers and pilots both reported the unusual incident, which sparked significant interest and concern within the aviation community.
The “jet pack man” was also referred to as “Iron Man” by the Air Traffic Controllers and some of the pilots.
Authorities, including the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), initiated an investigation to determine the identity of the individual and the technology used. Despite extensive searches, the “Jet Pack Man” remains unidentified, and the incident has fueled speculation and theories regarding advanced personal flight technologies.
The LAX sighting of the “Jet Pack Man” raised questions about the potential risks posed by such devices to commercial air traffic, as well as the need for regulation and oversight in the emerging field of personal flight technology.
Note on the FOIA request case: The original case was filed on August 3, 2021, for the below information. There was no FOIA case number given, and no response was received until April 4, 2023. The Black Vault asked why the response took so long to get a case number, but nothing was received back. That said, responsive material was mailed within two weeks thereafter. It is unclear why it transpired that way.
Also see:
Document Archive
Air Traffic Mandatory Occurrence Report
July 29, 2021 Report [5 Pages, 1.2MB]
Air Traffic Control Recordings
Relevant Traffic Only:
ATC Recordings (Left Channel [voices]only) [5.7MB]
This is the left channel only, which plays straight through in real time.
ATC Recordings (Raw & Unedited) [68MB] – Note: This is the exact file received from the FAA. Please be advised that the voice recording has an encoded time source on the right channel and can be listened to on any media player by adjusting the balance to the full left position.
