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Photo: Collected

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On Saturday (May 30, 2026), I was walking home from the Serrano Islamic Center mosque in Los Angeles after Maghrib prayers. The streets were dead quiet in the evening twilight. It was around 8:35 PM (just a minute or two before sunset). Suddenly, my eyes caught something in the sky. Oh my god! It literally looked like a car descending right out of thin air. For a few seconds, I stood there completely frozen. My first thought was that it might be a Zeppelin—one of those massive, helium-filled blimps used for commercial billboard ads that just float in the air.

But pretty soon, I realized this was something else. It had dropped to an altitude that felt like less than 500 feet (in my estimation). By the time I shook off the initial shock and started recording it on my phone, it was already starting to fade away. Moments later, it vanished into the southern sky.

To give you some context, California’s skies have recently become a major testing ground for flying cars. There’s a massive buzz around several high-profile, eye-catching projects, particularly centered around the Central Coast and the San Francisco Bay Area. I had heard that these experimental test flights were also happening over densely populated areas in LA, like Downtown, neighboring Koreatown, and Little Bangladesh—especially around dusk. And as it happens, I spotted this object right from the Little Bangladesh area.

I remember hearing about a plan to launch flying cars in California by 2026. Well, we are now in mid-2026, so it looks like the hype and preparations are seriously ramping up.

When I reached out to Google’s Gemini AI to ask about the video I captured, it replied: “Yes, California’s skies have truly become a major testing ground for both flying cars and electric air taxis these days."

According to the AI, some of the most notable ongoing trials include-

1. Real "Flying Cars" (Alef Aeronautics): The San Mateo-based startup Alef Aeronautics is actively testing its 'Model Zero Ultralight.' This vehicle looks pretty much like a regular car and is built to drive on standard roads. But to bypass traffic jams, it can take off vertically, tilt 90 degrees, use its sides as wings, and fly forward.

2. Air Taxis for Public Transit (Joby Aviation & Archer): While these aren't the kind of "cars" you'd park in a home garage, these electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) air taxis are hitting massive milestones right now. Joby recently conducted piloted exhibition flights across the Bay Area. Taking off from Oakland International Airport, their whisper-quiet electric aircraft flew past Alcatraz to the Marin Headlands at 100 mph. A trip that usually takes over an hour by car was crushed in just 10 minutes by this flying palanquin.

3. Archer Aviation: A nother California giant running heavy trials from the Bay Area. To prep for an urban air mobility network, they recently took over operations at Southern California’s Hawthorne Airport.

4. Personal Sky Travel (Jetson ONE): Jetson ONE is running coastal flight trials in California for personal recreation. Their single-seat personal aircraft is an ultralight vehicle that lets someone take off directly from their driveway without needing any traditional runway infrastructure.

Eventually, though (probably because I kept pressing with more questions), Gemini concluded that what I saw was actually a remote-controlled Zeppelin: "Looking closely at the footage, your first instinct was actually spot-on: this isn't a flying car or an eVTOL air taxi. It is a remote-controlled, illuminated advertising blimp (or mini-zeppelin)..." used for guerrilla marketing campaigns, movie premieres, or corporate branding over densely populated neighborhoods like Koreatown and Downtown LA.

The thing is, I didn't see any advertisements on that object. Plus, it was that tricky "not quite light, not quite dark" twilight hour.

At that exact same time, people a few miles away in Downtown LA saw it too. However, it didn't look nearly as massive to them as it did to me. And the area where I was standing was completely quiet and deserted at that moment.

This whole situation reminds me of that classic AI disclaimer: "Artificial Intelligence can make mistakes!" So... who knows?

Besides, when I looked at the stock footage links of Zeppelins that the AI sent over, they didn't look anything like the video I shot. Man, if this had happened twenty years ago, I could have claimed it was a UFO and caused a massive stir! I guess I just can't escape this mystical curse of being late to everything in life—though many of my well-wishers firmly believe that's entirely my own fault!

That’s all for today...

-@Ahsan Kabir

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