Video Taken By Pilots of What Could Be the Elusive Los Angeles Jet Pack Guy Emerges (thedrive.com) 61
We now have credible video of what appears to be the elusive "Jet Pack Guy" flying around at thousands of feet near Los Angeles International Airport. The Drive reports: The footage doesn't come to us from some random Reddit board or YouTube channel, either. It was taken during an instructional flight from Sling Pilot Academy in the training area off Palos Verdes. We reached out to the flight school, which is based out of Zamperini Field, in Torrance, California for additional details. One of the pilots involved in the bizarre incident told The War Zone that they were flying along their route in the practice area between Palos Verdes and Catalina Island when they caught what appeared to at least resemble a guy in a jet pack flying towards them in the opposite direction at about 3,000 feet. The object passed along the right side of their aircraft and kept going until it was out of sight.
There was no communication from the object or about the object on the usually busy radio channel used for the training area. As such, the pilots did report the encounter with the FAA, but because there wasn't really any detail to add, an official report was not filed. They were able to grab the video seen [here]. The FAA issued the following statement: "The FAA has not received any recent reports from pilots who believe they may have seen someone in a jetpack in the skies around Los Angeles. The FAA has taken the sighting reports it has received seriously, and has worked closely with the FBI to investigate them. However, the FAA has been unable to validate the reports."
The Drive also said that officials are going to contact the flight school directly to investigate this incident further and they they replayed radar tapes from around the time of previous sightings, but did not see anything abnormal. "No witnesses on the ground have provided any evidence of someone with a jet pack taking off or landing, either," the report adds.
There was no communication from the object or about the object on the usually busy radio channel used for the training area. As such, the pilots did report the encounter with the FAA, but because there wasn't really any detail to add, an official report was not filed. They were able to grab the video seen [here]. The FAA issued the following statement: "The FAA has not received any recent reports from pilots who believe they may have seen someone in a jetpack in the skies around Los Angeles. The FAA has taken the sighting reports it has received seriously, and has worked closely with the FBI to investigate them. However, the FAA has been unable to validate the reports."
The Drive also said that officials are going to contact the flight school directly to investigate this incident further and they they replayed radar tapes from around the time of previous sightings, but did not see anything abnormal. "No witnesses on the ground have provided any evidence of someone with a jet pack taking off or landing, either," the report adds.
The 405 was jammed... (Score:5, Funny)
guy's just trying to get to work.
Re: The 405 was jammed... (Score:2)
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Didn't know that. That's a real bummer.
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Well, we are still missing two things from the apocalypse bingo:
1)Zombie apocalypse
2)global nuclear war.
The other boxes are all filled..
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If you look around and don't see any zombies...
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Nah, Yves Rossy [wikipedia.org] is still alive, Vincent Reffet [wikipedia.org], who was on the same acrobatic team was the one who died.
Also, the winged suits that they use are large and delta shaped and allow them to fly nearly horizontal to the ground. The flying object on the video was in a more upright configuration (like the old bond jet packs). An Australian inventor has a backpack with two large motor driven fans that can keep him aloft for some time (sorry no link) , but that was not visible in the video.
Who knows? Maybe some comp
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That explains the spray of Cran-Raspberry juice you can see behind him.
Tony Stark... (Score:5, Funny)
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Re: Tony Stark... (Score:2)
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How did he solve the icing problem [youtube.com]?
Re: Tony Stark... (Score:2)
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George Jetson
Balloon (Score:5, Interesting)
Large mylar balloon. Like for a radiosonde. It's mostly deflated and crumpled a bit so it kinds of looks like a standing person with something on their back.
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Large mylar balloon. Like for a radiosonde. It's mostly deflated and crumpled a bit so it kinds of looks like a standing person with something on their back.
I wonder what type of radar signal that would have? Given the prevailing winds would be known youo could also check the fight path agianst how a ballon would track to see if it could be a ballon.
The drone explanation makes sense since the technology is readily avaiable; my question is what sort of range would an RC controller have? I've seen numbers saying 2KM for a good radio, and depending on the radio 50-60km. I doubt someone who is flying a drone in controlled airspace worries about things like radi
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Oh the humanity! (Score:4, Funny)
He clearly isn't flying under FAA authority. What if he got sucked into the engine of a plane? I mean this ain't no bird strike! What if there were children on that plane? What if the plane crashed into a school? What guidelines did we have in place for superman when he was being this reckless? Where is the precedent? Someone please think of the children!
Honestly, it just looks like an alien in an anti-gravity suit. If you zoom in real close it looks like it has antenna sticking out, but I admit, the pixilation makes it hard to discern. You be the judge!
--
Madness, as you know, is like gravity, all it takes is a little push. -- The Joker
Re: Oh the humanity! (Score:1)
Fake? (Score:1)
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There's a simple solution to this problem: smaller people. Equipping babies with jetpacks is entirely doable. We could even throw some up on existing quadcopters drones.
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Personally, I'm leaning towards the novelty drone theory. Given a light enough dummy and a small jet engine, it might have that sort of range.
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Darwin will sort things out (Score:5, Insightful)
If this is a jetpack, this is pushing the current tech towards its limits (10km+ from launch point). So sooner or later Darwin in the form of Pacific Ocean +/- a couple of Great Whites will sort things out.
Re:Darwin will sort things out (Score:5, Funny)
So sooner or later Darwin in the form of Pacific Ocean +/- a couple of Great Whites will sort things out.
3. ... 2. ... 1. ... Sharks with jet packs!
Fly, don't shoot videos (Score:2, Insightful)
Am I the only one who's mildly concerned that pilots flying in the crowded LA airspace are busy shooting videos instead of doing the flying?
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The camera that took that footage looks remarkably handheld.
Re:Fly, don't shoot videos (Score:5, Informative)
Am I the only one who's mildly concerned that pilots flying in the crowded LA airspace are busy shooting videos instead of doing the flying?
Training airspace. One shooting video and the other flying the plane.
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Training airspace. One shooting video and the other flying the plane.
You thought I was flying the plane? But I thought you were flying the plane!?
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Which is why you have a protocol for handing over the control of the aircraft. Also, as I've observed for myself, for handing over control of a ship from the forward controls to the aft controls, or from port to starboard, depending on what the boat is doing or equipped with.
One of the things that always make me laugh about people dreaming of flying cars is that they take their dreams of unbelievably lax, poorly trained drivers (such as those allowed onto the road
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Re:Fly, don't shoot videos (Score:4, Insightful)
You can take passengers as long as there's a licensed pilot in one of the front seats. Just like driving.
Regardless, collision avoidance is largely the responsibility of the control towers, not the pilots (aside from following directions from the tower). It's not like humans could react in time to avoid a collision in most instances anyway.
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Re:Fly, don't shoot videos (Score:4, Informative)
Yes, you're the only one. Back when I was taking lessons, we often flew around with a video camera, and that was in very busy airspace as well. It only takes one person to fly the plane, and that's if you're not using an autopilot. In VFR, on a clear day...not a problem.
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looks can be deceiving (Score:2)
and its just some sort of custom built drone copter with a human shaped chassis, and it only weighs a few pounds so it is able to fly, and somebody on the ground is controlling it via a radio controlled joystick thingy
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That would be quite possibly the single greatest prank since the straw person hanging precariously from the gutter next to the fallen ladder.
That said, they posted the wrong video. I found exclusive footage from later in his flight that gives a much better view [youtu.be].
The Mandalorian is Here (Score:2)
It's obviously Pedro Pascal rehearsing between seasons!
I didn't know that Beskar armor had stealth technology to avoid terrestrial radar and ?
So far it's been impervious to plasma blasters, light sabers, dark blade, dark trooper fists, etc.
Radar tapes, my ass... (Score:1)
And they won't, since no modern airports actually use radar any more. The wonders of modern software-driven "radar" means that tracks won't be displayed for anything without a beacon broadcasting its ident, position and heading.
And here the conclusion (Score:3)
Humidity is rising - Barometer's getting low
According to all sources, the street's the place to go
Cause tonight for the first time
Just about half-past ten
For the first time in history
And the latest in drones
Through Amazon Prime delivery
Straight up to your homes
It's gonna start raining men.
It's Raining Men! Hallelujah! - It's Raining Men!
Captain Disillusion (Score:2)
I am confused (Score:2)
So let's see... if you want to fly a 251g child's toy in your own back yard, beneath the cover of trees you need to register and pretty soon that toy will need to have a sophisticated "remote ID" transmitter onboard that reports its position to a national data-acquisition network.
But... if you want to buzz around the skies in your own jetpack... well no registration, no remote ID and, it would seem, pretty much no-rules.
Please can I have some of whatever the regulators are smoking because that's some powerf
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Nope, if you fly a drone weighing more than 250g YOU must register.
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Could just be a guy farting around and not wanting to be regulated.
So it's Superdag [youtube.com]?
Gravity Industries (Score:1)
It's a fake... (Score:4, Interesting)
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I didn't bother with the article (it's an ocean and a continent away, and Someone Else's Problem), but I did read the bit in the summary where it is reported as being in a TRAINING AREA. So, weird aircraft and erratic steering are to be expected.
Someone who had RTFA said the flight path was at least 10km from shore. I thought the floating airport was in Hong Kong, not California.