Skydiver reported near LAX, conjuring memories of 'jetpack man'

Terry Castleman, Los Angeles Times on Jun 15, 2026

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LOS ANGELES — More than five years after a series of mysterious "jetpack man" sightings in the airspace near LAX, another possible airborne human rattled air traffic controllers Sunday.

Shortly before landing at LAX around 2:40 p.m. on Sunday, a military transport Gulfstream jet pilot told air traffic controllers that they "just had a potential skydiver around 4,000 feet," per audio from ATC.com.

Air traffic control responded with evident surprise and asked for clarification.

"We just had somebody cross above us around 4,000 feet in a wingsuit," the pilot responded.

"Are you serious?" the controller asked, before warning an American flight that was next in line to land.

"We're looking for him," the American pilot answered.

The Federal Aviation Administration did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In December 2020, a video purporting to show a person flying with a jetpack was captured by people taking part in an instructional flight out of Torrance airport.

At that point, the FBI was already investigating two other possible jetpack sightings near LAX from August and October of that year.

The August sighting was called in by two commercial pilots, one from American Airlines and another from JetBlue minutes later.

At the time, experts suggested a more likely scenario: an electric drone — perhaps with a mannequin attached. It was unclear whether the latest reported wingsuit incident was related to the previous "jetpack man" sightings.