Look, up in the sky!
Is it Iron Man?
Is it a Mandalorian?
Or is it Elon Musk's barcode named child making its first steps?
To be honest, we don't know.
But we're damn excited the thorn in the FBI's side is back and flying "safely" over open water and not a restricted airspace, like LAX - the world's busiest airport - mind you.
We've had a global plague, authorities declassifying and acknowledging UFOs, monoliths, and now the saga of the levitating homemade rocketeer continues.
In case you're new to the mystery man saga of 2019, someone has, apparently, been flying what looks to be a jetpack near Los Angeles' LAX airport. A huge no-no, especially since the tragedy of 9/11.
But why in the hell would someone fly a jetpack at a nipple stiffening 3000 feet? Well, have you seen the traffic in LA? It's like diarrhea and constipation at the same time.
And yet, finally, we have footage of *a* person flying a jetpack thanks to the Sling Pilot Academy in California.
*We aren't sure if it's the same person, but how many of this insane contraptions are out there?
Here's the video courtesy of Sling Pilot Academy.
"Yeah I've seen heaps of videos of people playing with jetpacks but..."
Someone with nacho drenched fingers says, mashing thier stumpy digits into the keyboard.
But if this basement bound cretin read our first episode of Mystery Jetpack Person they'd know that to get one of these bad boys 3000 feet is a hefty task.
Sure, jetpack technology has come a long way.
But these push off the ground like extraordinarily powerful hair dryers.
And, we can "manoeuvre" around some 20-30 feet off the ground with readily available technology. But to be at a low-flight level like 910 or so metres like this mystery human is ballsy and a little death-defying.
I mean, watch the video and look at the control with air pressure and gust of wind?
That's not a run of the mill jetpack.
We don't know what it is.
Here's a bite of an analysis from Tyler Rogoway (@Aviation_Intel):
"A guy flying out over the ocean in a jet pack at around 3,000 feet, especially one without any lifting surfaces, is a puzzling proposition, to say the least. Jet packs that do exist have very short ranges and are not equipped to be flying in dense airspace, especially thousands of feet in the air."
BUT...
We're not swallowing the hook just yet.
There's always the chance that this is an elaborate ruse.
In the footage itself it's hard to make out the object flying, or if it's even a real human strapped to it. It could be a drone made to look like a person in a jetpack. Especially with how flavourless the year has been in terms of a good troll.
Most of the weird, terrible news has been true.
So, the mystery of the jetpack person lives on into 2021.
The FBI are still chasing the phantom pilot with spokeswoman Laura Eimiller commenting, "We're aware of it and are continuing to investigate reports," in response to the recent footage.
Meanwhile, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), told the LA Times it had not received reports from pilots who thought they saw a jetpack in the area, commenting:
"The FAA has taken the sighting reports it has received seriously, and has worked closely with the FBI to investigate them," the FAA told the paper. "However, the FAA has been unable to validate the reports."
The very first instance with the jetpack person in early September 2020 was a hoot, as pilots could not hold their disbelief from interfering from their professional radio chatter.
Check it out:
What do you think: Human or Ruse?
If it is legitimate, this person has a powerful means of flying that 99% of the human population has no access to.
Should they be stopped?
Or let them be, as long as they behave?
Let us know in comments and thanks for reading!
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#Space_Aus
