James Miller

Although Miller's disappearance and death were reported in the local press shortly after his body was found, his suicide did not become widely known outside Alaska until the latter part of 2003 when ESPN went searching for him to film a SportsCenter feature to be shown during the tenth anniversary of his stunt.

On September 22, 2002, Miller was reported missing after he disappeared earlier that morning while driving to the wilderness. His car was found near the Resurrection Pass Trail in Chugach National Forest on the Kenai Peninsula. A search was launched but was suspended on October 13. On March 9, 2003, a group of hunters bushwhacking through the woods on the peninsula found Miller's decomposing body. An autopsy revealed that Miller had hanged himself from a tree. Police said they believed Miller had chosen the remote Resurrection Pass Trail and had veered deep off-trail in hopes that his body would not have been discovered for years, if ever. At the time of his death, Miller's girlfriend was pregnant with the couple's first child. She gave birth to their son shortly before Miller's body was discovered in March 2003.

After returning to the United States, Miller received death threats for interrupting sporting events. In 1996, he relocated to Valdez, Alaska where he lived in a hut with no indoor plumbing. He continued to fly ultralight aircraft and paragliders in the Alaskan wilderness and also gave lessons. Miller briefly worked for a computer company before opening his own computer business. In 2001, he was diagnosed with coronary artery disease and underwent double bypass surgery. There were complications and Miller developed health issues. He underwent two additional surgeries to correct issues caused by the first surgery, but continued to experience constant chest pains and ill health. Miller was unable to continue flying, paragliding and hiking because of his declining health. Due to mounting debts from medical bills, Miller was forced to close his computer business. He moved to Anchorage in 2002, where he worked for a utility company.

On January 9, 1994, Miller circled approximately 1,000 feet over the rim of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on his paraglider during the Denver Broncos-Los Angeles Raiders NFL playoff game. He landed in a park north of the Coliseum where he was arrested for interfering with a sporting event. Later that same month, he "buzzed", (flew low over), a Bolton Wanderers-Arsenal 4th round FA Cup football match at Burnden Park in Bolton, England. After serving a seven-day prison sentence, Miller was deported by British authorities.

Miller's first and most famous stunt happened on November 6, 1993 during the heavyweight title fight between Riddick Bowe and Evander Holyfield. Miller descended into the side of the ring area during the second minute of the seventh round of the fight, after circling Caesars Palace for ten minutes. The lines of his paraglider became tangled in the overhead lights, after which he landed on the top rope of the ring with his parachute still tangled in the lights. He tried to hang on with one foot and one hand on that top rope for a few seconds until he either fell or was dragged down into the crowd by spectators, his parachute ripping away from the lights above.

Miller was born in Havre de Grace, Maryland. He had three younger brothers and two younger sisters. In 1975, the Miller family moved to a country home near the Canada–United States border. The following year, the family relocated to Tok, Alaska. Miller later earned an associate degree in computer programming from the University of Alaska at Juneau. In the late 1980s, he moved to Las Vegas where he was introduced to paragliders.

James Jarrett Miller (October 28, 1963 – c. September 22, 2002), also known as the Fan Man, was an American parachutist and paraglider pilot known for his appearances at various sporting events. His most infamous appearance was the November 6, 1993 boxing match between Evander Holyfield and Riddick Bowe at Caesars Palace on the Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas, Nevada. Fan Man made headlines in the United States when he used his powered paraglider to fly into the arena, eventually crashing into the side of the ring.