Pilots Who Said They Spotted People Flying Jetpacks May Have Seen Jack Skellington Balloons, Feds Say

The FBI and FAA have spent months investigating what pilots described as people flying jetpacks dangerously close to Los Angeles International Airport, only to reportedly come to suspect that the pilots may have just seen Jack Skellington balloons. There have been three sightings of the supposed jetpack flights—the first was made by an American Airlines crew on Aug. 30, 2020; the second by a China Airlines crew on Oct. 14, 2020; and the third on July 28 this year, when a pilot reported a “jet man” at approximately 5,000 feet. The FBI and FAA launched an investigation, and told NBC Los Angeles on Monday: “One working theory is that pilots might have seen balloons.” One law-enforcement official told NBC that the balloon could have been part of a Halloween decoration that broke loose, with NBC noting the resemblance to Jack Skellington from A Nightmare Before Christmas. According to NBC, investigators have completely ruled out the possibility that someone was genuinely flying a jetpack at 5,000 feet.