Susan Swiatek was born in Washington, DC, yet spent her childhood from three to twelve growing up near Denver, Colorado. Since 1970 she has been living near, in Fairfax, Virginia. As a child, she read everything in the school library on UFOs and other anomalies. In 1966, when Betty and Barney Hill's Interrupted Journey exploded onto the pages of Look Magazine, she was hooked on the UFO and abduction mysteries. Susan was greatly influenced by the writings of researchers Budd Hopkins and Dr. David Jacobs, whom she later knew as colleagues and friends.