The FBI has released a detailed set of investigative files on the so-called “Jetpack Man” sightings near Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). The release on October 1, 2025, followed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by The Black Vault first filed August 3, 2021 and resubmitted November 27, 2021 after an initial denial. The Bureau originally withheld all the records under FOIA exemption (b)(7)(A) for ongoing investigations but reversed its position with the second request after nearly four years.

A screengrab from a video posted Dec. 23, 2020, which shows an object flying through the air off the coast of California. Sling Pilot Academy/YouTube

When the sightings first made headlines in 2020 and 2021, they were widely portrayed as encounters with a person flying a jetpack near commercial aircraft. Yet the FBI’s files show that at least one pilot later walked back that description. In one case, the China Airlines captain who initially thought he saw a “jetpack” told investigators on reflection that “he did not believe it resembled the shape and size of a human” and noted that “there were no propellers or jet propulsion devices attached to the object.”

The records released mark the first “interim” disclosure for this case which remains open, indicating that additional material may still be forthcoming. For this release, 250 pages were reviewed, bit only 130 were released. It is unclear what is in the 120 pages completely withheld.

How the Investigation Began

The FBI’s first reference to the case appears in an internal summary of the August 30, 2020 incident, when pilots on American Airlines flight 1997 reported seeing “a person with a jet pack flying approximately 300 yards to the left of them” as they descended to land at LAX at about 3,000 feet. According to the records, “approximately one minute later, JetBlue flight 23 was approaching LAX and a pilot possibly saw the same person flying with the jet pack”.

The Bureau’s records show the FBI’s Los Angeles Resident Agency opened a file (164B-LA-3313857) on September 1, 2020 to investigate the sightings.

October 2020: Pilot Describes Object in Detail

A year later, on October 14, 2020, a China Airlines captain flying from Taipei to Los Angeles told FBI agents he saw an object at 6,000–6,500 feet over Culver City during descent. The pilot described it as moving horizontally and only visible for two seconds:

“He called out the sighting to the co-pilots… The object was approximately 100-200 meters away from the left wing tip when it went past the plane”.

At first, the October 14, 2020, sighting was linked to the idea of a jetpack or “fly suit.” But after an FBI interview, the China Airlines captain made a crucial clarification. He told investigators that, on reflection, “he did not believe it resembled the shape and size of a human.” He added that there were “no propellers or jet propulsion devices attached to the object.”

This reversal is noteworthy. The incident was widely described in headlines as another “jetpack man” encounter, yet the pilot himself cast doubt on that very interpretation. If the object did not look like a human, and carried no visible propulsion system, it leaves open the possibility that it was not a balloon, not a drone, and not a man in flight gear. The FBI documents stop short of offering an alternative explanation, but the pilot’s testimony underscores the unresolved nature of what was seen that night.

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