Flight Before the Wright Brothers? The Adventures of Gustave Whitehead

An inventor by the name of Gustave Whitehead claims to have achieved flight in August 1901. This claim predates the generally acknowledged first-in-flight achievement of Orville and Wilbur Wright in December 1903, by 2 years.

Since then - Historians have worked very hard to try to prove or discredit the claims that Gustave Whitehead was truly ‘first-in-flight’. Are Gustaves claims legitimate?

But, is it true? Did an immigrant and inventor, and a great storyteller, who arrived in the United States in 1894 from Leutershausen, Bavaria, really fly first? It seems two points of view can seem to completely contradict each other. Meaning, if one is true, the other must be false... Right?

Also See:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustave_Whitehead
https://web.archive.org/web/20010217000744/http://airsports.fai.org/jun98/jun9805.html
https://www.wright-brothers.org/History_Wing/History_of_the_Airplane/Who_Was_First/Gustav_Whitehead/Gustav_Whitehead.htm
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/scientific-american-debunks-claim-gustave-whitehead-was-first-in-flight/
https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/flight-claims-gustave-whitehead