MONROE, Utah — Walter Fredrick Morrison, the man credited with inventing the Frisbee, has died. He was 90.

State Rep. Kay McIff, an attorney who once represented Morrison in a royalties case, says Morrison died at his home Tuesday. McIff is from Richfield, Morrison’s original hometown.

Morrison also lived in San Luis Obispo County. After serving in World War II as a pilot, Morrison moved to the Baywood Park area of Los Osos, where he and his wife, Lu, first lived in a tent before building a house. While in Baywood, Morrison and Warren Franscioni, who owned a butane business in Morro Bay, designed the Whirlo-Way, a plastic flying disc. Around that time, in 1947, a UFO was rumored to have landed in Roswell, N.M, amping interest in all things saucer-like.

In 1955, after Francscioni re-enlisted in the Air Force and parted ways, Morrison changed the design of the disc and renamed it the "Pluto Platter" to capitalize on the UFO fervor.

Morrison sold the production and manufacturing rights to his Pluto Platter in 1957. The plastic flying disc was later renamed the “Frisbee,” with sales surpassing 200 million discs. It is now a staple at beaches and college campuses across the country and spawned sports like Frisbee golf and the team sport Ultimate.

Morrison co-wrote a book with Frisbee enthusiast and historian Phil Kennedy in 2001. Kennedy released a brief biography about Morrison on Thursday, wishing his late friend “smoooooth flights.”

The Associated Press and Tribune staff writer Pat Pemberton contributed to this report.