Nearly two months after the jet pack sighting at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) on August 30th, 2020, another “jet pack guy” was seen flying around LAX on October 15th. This time, it was reported to be flying around at approximately 6,000 feet.

The Black Vault had filed FOIA requests in relation to both events. Documents relating to the first event can be seen at the link above. The records relating to the October sighting, are found below.

Within the records, an animation is referenced but inaccessible. The Black Vault has asked the FAA for a copy of this video file as well, and it will be added here, when it comes available.

Document Archive

Jetpack Sighting over Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), October 15, 2020 – Aviation Safety, Flight Standards Service, Office of Foundational Business Release –  [16 Pages, 1.3MB]

Loading...

Taking too long?

Reload document

| Open in new tab

Download [1.48 MB]

Jetpack Sighting over Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), October 15, 2020 – Mission Support Service, Western Service Center (WSC) [6 Pages, 1.3MB]

Loading...

Taking too long?

Reload document

| Open in new tab

Download [1.15 MB]

The post Jetpack Man Sighting over Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), October 15, 2020 first appeared on The Black Vault.

On August 30, 2020, numerous sightings of what appears to be a person flying a jet pack above Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) took place.

The story, first broken by Fox News and also covered by The Drive’s War Zone, the following were some of the exchanges between pilots and air traffic control:

American Flight 1997: “Tower, American 1997, we just passed a guy in a jetpack.”

Tower: “American 1997, OK, thank you. Were they off to your left or right side?”

American Flight 1997: “Off the left side, maybe 300 yards or so, about our altitude.”

Fox 11 reports a Skywest pilot confirmed the sighting:

Skywest Flight: “We just saw the guy passing by us in the jetpack.”

Then the tower alerted an incoming Jet Blue flight to the reported hazard:

Tower: “Jet Blue 23, use caution, a person in a jetpack reported 300 yards south of the LA final at about 3,000 feet, 10 mile final.”

Jet Blue 23: “Jet Blue 23, we heard and we are definitely looking.”

Another pilot chimed in: “Only in LA.”

The Black Vault filed for documents relating to this incident from the FAA. The result of those FOIA requests are below, which also yielded a much longer audio compilation of the Air Traffic Control recordings.

Air Traffic Control Recordings

Document Archive

Jetpack Sighting over Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), August 30, 2020 – Release #1 – [24 Pages, 1.2MB]

Jetpack Sighting over Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), August 30, 2020 – Release #2 – [7 Pages, 1.2MB]

Downy Radar Position Air Traffic Control Recordings about the Jetpack Sighting over Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), August 30, 2020 (RAW .WAV DOWNLOAD, UNEDITED) [29MB]

Downy Radar Position Air Traffic Control Recordings about the Jetpack Sighting over Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), August 30, 2020 (RAW .WAV DOWNLOAD, EDITED. “BUZZING” Track Removed. Corresponding Track Converted to Stereo.) [14MB]

The post Jetpack Man Sighting over Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), August 30, 2020 first appeared on The Black Vault.

Based on the recent admission by the US Navy that it investigates encounters with Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAPs), more commonly referred to as Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs), The Black Vault attempted to identify reporting procedures and guidelines for commercial airliners and sought comment from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). “The FAA does not track UFOs. Please contact The National UFO Reporting Center,” the FAA told The Black Vault in an email. However, what appeared to be a contradiction to that statement, is the fact that The Black Vault discovered an FAA generated database which contains numerous UFO encounters, some as recently as March of 2019.

“Reported a UFO… moving from West to East just above horizon with steady light illumination,” said one report near Washington, D.C. “Fast moving… gone within 5 minutes.”

“A320 reported while taxiing inbound to the ramp, they had seen what appeared to be a UFO on their right side,” said another report from Punta Gorda, Florida.

In addition to these, there are more than 260 references to “unidentified” objects, aircraft and helicopters throughout the reports. These UFO cases are scattered throughout an FAA generated database of sightings of Unmanned Aviation System or UAS’, a reference to a drone system consisting of a craft and a human operator on the ground. Although most of the encounters found within are identified simply as drones operating within unauthorized areas, others categorize the sighting as UFOs, which the FAA blanket denies tracking. The Black Vault reached out to the FAA to clarify.

“We receive the information you see in the sightings database from numerous sources such as the general public, law enforcement, pilots and air traffic control. Not all sightings reported are aircraft or drones,” the FAA told The Black Vault. “Many times, the reports are not descriptive enough to make a determination and could be other objects (e.g. Mylar balloons or plastic bags).”

Air Traffic Controllers (ATCs) operating under FAA policy, abide by Order JO 7110.65Y. Within this document, it has an entire section on UFOs, consisting of a single page. “Persons wanting to report UFO/unexplained phenomena activity should contact a UFO/ unexplained phenomena reporting data collection center, such as the National UFO Reporting Center, etc.,” it explains. “If concern is expressed that life or property might be endangered, report the activity to the local law enforcement department.”

On average, there are more than 16,100,000 flights handled by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) every year. That’s more than 44,000 flights per day, and during peak times, more than 5,000 aircraft in the sky at one time. Each flight is carefully tracked with call signs and tagged on radar. Due to these numbers, airline safety is the top priority for the FAA, and in today’s world, commercial drones are creating quite a problem for the crowded skies.

If there really are UFOs of unknown origin traversing the sky, the question is why wouldn’t the government agency with a paramount interest in aviation safety, be concerned and investigate each case?

UPDATE April 21, 2020

After compiling the database of the FAA since the above article was written, it was discovered the FAA continues to archive “UFO” reports within their drone sightings database. To download the entire, searchable, .pdf and excel spreadsheets, you can do so here.

FAA Statements in Full

Note from The Black Vault: In order to condense the FAA statements, some information was truncated. The FULL statements are reproduced below for additional information, as the FAA submitted to The Black Vault in response to various questions.

We receive the information you see in the sightings database from numerous sources such as the general public, law enforcement, pilots and air traffic control. Not all sightings reported are aircraft or drones. Many times, the reports are not descriptive enough to make a determination and could be other objects (e.g. Mylar balloons or plastic bags).

The FAA does outreach through the Know Before You Fly (knowbeforeyoufly.org) and No Drone Zone campaigns, making drone operators and the public aware of where drones can and cannot fly. We distributed public service videos to airports nationwide to amplify our UAS safety messages. And, the FAA partnered with Kittyhawk on a new and improved B4UFLY smartphone app (http://www.faa.gov/uas/b4ufly/) which answers very basic safety questions about where it is safe and legal to fly an unmanned aircraft.

Aircraft not visibly displaying a registration number or N# should be reported to the local Flight Standards District Office. See the bottom of the page, second bullet, at: https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/aae/programs_services/faa_hotlines/This link can also be accessed through our contact link at: https://www.faa.gov/contact/.

Anyone who observes a UAS being operated in a manner that interferes with manned aircraft flight, a drone operation that appears dangerous, or is being used to commit a crime should contact their local law enforcement agency. This helps the FAA and your local law enforcement discourage dangerous, illegal activity involving drones. Unauthorized drone operators may be subject to stiff fines and criminal charges, including possible jail time. You may also report drone sightings to the nearest local FAA office (http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/field_offices/fsdo/).

The post FAA Denies Tracking UFOs; Publishes Database Containing UFO Sightings first appeared on The Black Vault.

Reports of unmanned aircraft (UAS) sightings from pilots, citizens and law enforcement have increased dramatically over the past two years. The FAA now receives more than 100 such reports each month. The agency wants to send out a clear message that operating drones around airplanes, helicopters and airports is dangerous and illegal. Unauthorized operators may be subject to stiff fines and criminal charges, including possible jail time.

The FAA continues to work closely with its industry partners through the “Know Before You Fly” campaign to educate unmanned aircraft users about where they can operate within the rules. The agency also is working closely with the law enforcement community to identify and investigate unauthorized unmanned aircraft operations. The FAA has levied civil penalties for a number of unauthorized flights in various parts of the country, and has many open enforcement cases.

The FAA encourages the public to report unauthorized drone operations to local law enforcement and to help discourage this dangerous, illegal activity.

Document Archive

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Sighting Database, November 2014 – June 2019 [1,301 Pages, 8.2MB]

.zip File of Excel Spreadsheets and .PDF compilation [9MB]

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Sighting Database, September 2019 – December 2019 [147 Pages, 1MB]

.zip File of Excel Spreadsheets and .PDF compilation [9MB]

Loading...

Taking too long?

Reload document

| Open in new tab

Download [7.98 MB]

The post Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Sighting Database first appeared on The Black Vault.

The National Playbook is a collection of Severe Weather Avoidance Plan (SWAP) routes that have been pre-validated and coordinated with impacted ARTCCs. The National Playbook is designed to mitigate the potential adverse impact to the FAA and customers during periods of severe weather or other events that affect coordination of routes. These events include, but are not limited to, convective weather, military operations, communications, and other situations.

When I first requested the FAA Playbook, I was unable to find a copy online. Sadly, one official from the FAA went back and forth to me, when she sent a link to a intranet server (only available to those within the FAA facilities or approved with special access).  I tried to explain to her that I tried on multiple browsers, on multiple computers, and even had someone across the country try it — but she still said I was doing it wrong.

After a long back and forth, she finally sent a copy via CD-ROM through the postal mail. It took more than a year to receive since my initial request, and it took more than 6 months since the e-mail exchange with the FAA employee.

Since the document was unclassified, the fact that it took 6+ months after the emails clearly showed I was unable to access the document is fairly absurd.

However, upon research, I also realized that the document that was sent to me, was an old and outdated version of the FAA Playbook.

Regardless, I put the most recent version that I could find (now online) as of the writing of this page, below.  The other is the official FOIA response document, however, the FAA FOIA officer did not even bother to write any form of official letter to close out the request.

Document Archive

FOIA Response on Case 2017-007818 – June 22, 2017

https://documents.theblackvault.com/documents/faa/FAA-Playbook-June22-2017.pdf

FAA Playbook – March 29, 2018

https://documents.theblackvault.com/documents/faa/FAA-Playbook-March29-2018.pdf

The post Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) National Severe Weather Playbook first appeared on The Black Vault.

Since Bigelow Aerospace and Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies (BAASS) was mentioned as being a part of the Advanced Aviation Threat Identification Program (AATIP)program, I had recalled that many FAA manuals had BAASS listed as a place of contact for commercial pilot UFO reports.

The dates that Bigelow Aerospace/BAASS entered into the manuals very much coincide with the start of the AATIP program.  Prior, the manuals reference Bigelow Aerospace’s previous project called NIDS starting in 2002.  However, all references to Bigelow Aerospace/BAASS have been removed, which coincides with the actual cancellation of the AATIP program (although this ‘cancellation’ date that is controversial, since Mr. Elizondo has gone on the record saying the program continued). It appears, however, that the removal of Bigelow Aerospace/BAASS from the FAA manuals coincides completely with this cancellation date.  The FAA now recommends contacting private organizations like the National UFO Reporting center to report their sightings.

In January of 2018, I requested under the FOIA all communications between Bigelow Aerospace/BAASS and the FAA.  I received a stack of communications on March 23, 2018, which include most of the communications about the change of contact within the FAA manuals.

Surprisingly, there were no other communications.  What I intended, was to get a hold of any reports that may have come in to the FAA, and forwarded to Bigelow Aerospace/BAASS.  By the below FOIA release, nothing was ever forwarded from 2005 on.

So, it appears that if anything was reported during this time frame, it went directly to Bigelow Aerospace/BAASS.  Sadly, in THIS specific case, all of those reports from any commercial pilot made DIRECTLY to Bigelow Aerospace/BAASS, would never be subject to the FOIA (unless Bigelow Aerospace/BAASS included any of the reports they received in any documents they submitted under their AATIP contract.  That is still being determined.).

Regardless of the fact that I didn’t quite find what I was looking for, it still is an interesting look into the fact that the FAA had this in their manuals to report to Bigelow Aerospace/BAASS, but then had removed it.

Document Archive

Loading...

Taking too long?

Reload document

| Open in new tab

Download [3.83 MB]

FAA Manuals and Bigelow Aerospace

The FAA manuals can serve as an important clue when it comes to AATIP’s cancellation, or in fairness, at least the involvement of Bigelow Aerospace/BAASS. The following is a breakdown of various manuals, and dates, that reference Bigelow Aerospace/BAASS, and then when the manuals were updated wherein they do not.

 ORDER JO 7110.65X, October 17, 2017 – NO Bigelow Aerospace/BAASS Reference [614 Pages, 5MB]
 ORDER JO 7110.65W, December 10, 2015 – NO Bigelow Aerospace/BAASS Reference [729 Pages, 5MB]
 ORDER JO 7110.65V, April 3, 2014 – NO Bigelow Aerospace/BAASS Reference [660 Pages, 15.8MB]
—-> AATIP was (allegedly) cancelled in 2012
 ORDER JO 7110.65U, February 9, 2012 – Bigelow Aerospace/BAASS Reference [606 Pages, 3.4MB]
 ORDER JO 7110.65T, February 11, 2010 – Bigelow Aerospace/BAASS Reference [602 Pages, 5MB]
—-> See the above email exchanges between Bigelow Aerospace and the FAA to change the NIDS reference to BAASS
 ORDER JO 7110.65S, February 14, 2008 – Bigelow Aerospace/NIDS Reference [591 Pages, 4.8MB]
 ORDER 7110.65R, February 16, 2006 – Bigelow Aerospace/NIDS Reference [622 Pages, 5MB]
 ORDER 7110.65P, February 19, 2004 – Bigelow Aerospace/NIDS Reference [599 Pages, 4.3MB]
 ORDER 7110.65N, February 21, 2002 – Bigelow Aerospace/NIDS Reference [578 Pages, 20.7MB]
 ORDER 7110.65M, February 21, 2002 – NO UFO Reference at all [528 Pages, 14.6MB]

The post The Bigelow Aerospace (NIDS and BAASS) UFO Connection with the FAA first appeared on The Black Vault.

An Aviat A-1C Husky, flown by actor Harrison Ford, was involved in an incident during landing at Orange County-John Wayne Airport, California.
The pilot had been cleared to land on runway 20L but touched down on the parallel taxiway C instead. On final approach the aircraft passed over American Airlines flight AA1456 that was taxiing on taxiway L for takeoff on a flight to Dallas, Texas.

Flight AA1456 was a Boeing 737-800, N959NN, with 110 passengers and a six crew members on board.

Flight tracking website Flightradar24 shows a calibrated altitude of 125 feet as the aircraft overflew taxiway L.

Audio Archive

• John Wayne Tower 1 (WAV, 6.5 MB) 

• John Wayne Tower 2 (WAV, 10.8 MB)

• John Wayne Recorded Line 2 (WAV, 9.9 MB)

• John Wayne Recorded Line 3 (WAV, 7.3 MB

Document Archive

 Harrison Ford Incident With Passenger Plane at California Airport, February 13, 2017 [41 Pages, 4.7MB]

Loading...

Taking too long?

Reload document

| Open in new tab

Download [4.40 MB]

The post Harrison Ford Incident With Passenger Plane at California Airport, February 13, 2017 first appeared on The Black Vault.

 Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Office of Aviation Research Report Index for April 1995 (the date on which the Office was established within the FAA) to April 2001 [66 Pages, 9.42mb]

https://documents.theblackvault.com/documents/aviation/FAAReports2001.pdf

The post FAA Office of Aviation Research Report Index first appeared on The Black Vault.