Lawrence Sperry Lawrence Sperry Lawrence Burst Sperry (21 December 1892, Chicago, Illinois, United States – December 13, 1923, English Channel) was an aviation pioneer. He was the third son of the gyrocompass co-inventor, Elmer Ambrose Sperry and his wife Zula. Sperry invented the first autopilot, which he demonstrated with startling success in France in 1914. Sperry is also credited with developing the artificial horizon still used on most aircraft in the early 21st century. On 13 December 1923 Sperry took off amid fog in a Verville-Sperry M-1 Messenger from the United Kingdom headed for France but never reached his destination. His body
Sperry UFO case Sperry UFO case The Sperry UFO case was a sighting of an Unidentified Flying Object by the captain, Willis Sperry, and other crew of an American Airlines DC-6 airborne near Mount Vernon, Maryland on 29 May 1950. Media exposure of the case helped to establish a popular perception of UFOs being reported by "credible" witnesses such as airline pilots; Sperry was interviewed for several newspapers and was later featured in Clarence Greene's 1956 semi-documentary film "". Sperry's aircraft had left Washington Airport at 9:10 pm EST on a flight to Nashville and was climbing to 20,000 ft. Weather conditions were