Few stage moments have become as closely associated with Michael Jackson as his astonishing forward lean, a movement that appeared to push the limits of human balance. The visual was so dramatic that it seemed almost impossible: Jackson could tilt his body far beyond the point where an ordinary person would normally topple forward and somehow remain upright. The explanation was not supernatural, however. It was an ingenious piece of stage engineering involving specially designed footwear and hidden hardware.
On October 26, 1993, U.S. Patent No. 5,255,452 was granted for a system called “Method and means for creating anti-gravity illusion.” The inventors listed were Michael J. Jackson, Michael L. Bush and Dennis Tompkins, with Triumph International Inc. named as the assignee. The patent application had actually been filed on June 29, 1992, making the 1993 grant the formal moment when the invention entered the U.S. patent record.
