Taylor Swift Disembarks Jet at LAX After Flying from Tokyo

5:49 PM PT -- Taylor’s journey is nearly at an end ... ‘cause she just hopped off the plane -- though her entourage did her best to hide her.

Here’s a snap of the pop star hopping into an SUV ... almost completely covered by a light blue umbrella held by one of her team members and a car door, but we're assured that's her.

The SUV she’s getting into appeared to pull up to the airport not that long ago ... followed by a couple more cars with completely tinted windows -- almost certainly Tay’s motorcade.

Unclear what the next destination might be ... though it seems pretty clear she’s headed to her Bev Hills mansion.

4:00 PM PT -- The plane believed to be carrying Taylor Swift has landed in Los Angeles -- and people were watching far and wide on livestreams that captured the momentous touchdown.

The L.A. Flights YouTube Channel was documenting the whole thing, and captured the moment it hit the ground to the moments it started coming down the taxiway as it went toward a private hangar at LAX. Good angles on the private jet too ... you could totally see it.

One notable thing about the jet was the fact that all the windows were closed as it came in for a landing ... which is interesting. If TayTay's on there, seems she didn't wanna be seen.

Unclear if anyone's gotten off yet ... but everyone's waiting on shots of her leaving the airport at some point -- assuming she doesn't refuel and take off again. Everyone's watching.

We should note ... the scene at LAX is crawling with cops and extra security. Sounds like someone big is in town -- and most everyone believes it's the Princess of Pop herself.

Welp, Taylor Swift's taken off from Tokyo ... and super fans are tracking a plane they're pretty sure she's on -- and from the looks of it, she's headed for Los Angeles, not Las Vegas.

Here's the deal ... a ton of Swifties are tracking a flight that left Tokyo's Haneda Airport at roughly the same time it seems Swift did. Its current destination -- L.A., specifically LAX ... and it's expected to touch down later today.

Let's be clear, we don't know for certain if this is Taylor's jet or not -- this isn't the one she normally uses, it seems -- but all signs point to this being an aircraft carrying the superstar back stateside ... closer to her Bev Hills home, as opposed to Vegas ... where Travis Kelce and co. obviously are right now. So the question ... why would she be landing in L.A.?

Well, frankly ... there are a number of reasons Taylor might be stopping in the City of Angels before heading on to Sin City -- but some theories make a lot more sense than others.

First and foremost ... the issue of customs has been raised by some as a possible reason she's stopping off in L.A. first. Taylor's coming back from a foreign country, and even mega pop stars need to have their planes checked by customs agents -- something a handful of fans are theorizing she needs to do in L.A. ... y'know since it's a big airport and all.

Turns out, that's unlikely. We've looked up official FAA guidelines, and they state you only have to land at a point of entry to get back to the U.S. after flying in from a foreign country -- and turns out, Las Vegas' Harry Reid International Airport fits the bill -- it's listed as one of those points of entry she could use. Customs could easily check her if she landed in Vegas.

A more feasible reason she ain't going straight to Vegas ... the airport in Vegas is running out of parking spots for private planes -- possibly the biggest first-world problem in history.

Check out this pic from a local Vegas social account ... the airport's packed to the gills, and The Athletic reports spots for private planes were all snatched up at least several weeks before Super Bowl weekend ... so, any procrastinating jet setters are out of luck.

Now we know Taylor's team isn't like that -- she may well have secured her spot a while ago -- but there's still a major parking issue for PJs at the airport ... tons of NFL players, execs and other celebs are flying in, so they're taking up a lot of space.

Reports have suggested Taylor could still fly in and land at Harry Reid if she was dead-set on doing so, but her jet might not be able to stay if she didn't lock down a parking spot already -- so it'd potentially have to be a quick drive-by/drop-off type deal if she was insistent on it.

But let's be real ... it's Taylor freakin' Swift, y'all -- if she wants a spot at the Vegas airport, she's getting one, so we don't think a parking situation is truly keeping her outta town.

Now, for a much more likely explanation for why TS might skip heading to Vegas tonight ... TMZ has confirmed the existence of a particular rule in the NFL -- namely, players are NOT allowed to stay with wives/GFs the night before games -- any games. And you bet your ass that goes double for Super Bowl week ... and we're hearing in its full effect this week.

We don't know if this is a league-wide mandate, if it varies from team to team, or even if it's just an unwritten rule passed down over time -- all we know for certain is that when it comes to Super Bowl Sunday, the players are basically on lockdown for the wee hours of the night.

As it pertains to Taylor Swift ... flying hours and hours to see her man, Travis, play seems to be the bigger deal here -- and while we're sure she'd love to see him as much as possible beforehand, there's not much of an incentive to rush to Vegas with such strict restrictions.

Now, Taylor's got a house here in town (L.A.) ... so if she isn't heading straight to Vegas from L.A. later this afternoon -- which is when she's expected to land -- she can presumably rest up after a tiring journey and make the easy hour-long flight to Vegas tomorrow AM.

She'll still be able to land way before kickoff, meet up with her and Travis' families at the suite he paid for and probably feel a whole heck of a lot better before cheering her head off.

T-Swift's a woman of mystery when it comes to travel ... and she could surprise us all by actually going to Vegas tonight -- so we'll just have to wait and see what Taylor decides.