It was believed the man is a Kohein, a religious descendant of the priests of ancient Israel, who are banned from flying over cemeteries.
Many wrap themselves in plastic bags as a compromise measure.
The startling photograph, which has now gone viral after being posted on Reddit, shows fellow passengers straining over their seats to get a look.
Beneath his plastic wrapping, the man is dressed entirely in black, and appears to be wearing a Jewish skullcap or ‘kippah’.
As a controversial solution – not entirely allowed by those in the Jewish Orthodox – the plastic bag creates a kind of barrier between the Kohein and the surrounding tumah, or impurity.
