Susan Swiatek

Background and Early Interest

Susan Swiatek was born in Washington, DC, and spent her formative years in Denver, Colorado from ages three to twelve, gazing at the Milky Way during family camping trips in the Rockies. Her lifelong fascination with UFO phenomena was cemented in 1966 when Betty and Barney Hill's "Interrupted Journey" abduction case exploded onto the pages of Look Magazine. As a child, she became convinced that this case represented a serious and genuine mystery warranting investigation.

She relocated to Fairfax, Virginia in 1970 and has maintained residence there for over 55 years. Swiatek holds a BFA degree from the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore and works professionally in the publishing field, a background that would shape her later contributions to UFO research documentation and dissemination.

Investigation and Institutional Leadership (1987–Present)

Swiatek's active involvement in organized UFO research began after she watched Ted Koppel's June 24, 1987 Nightline episode on ABC addressing UFO topics. This exposure connected her to the DC-based Fund for UFO Research (FUFOR), where she met her husband Rob Swiatek, a member of FUFOR's executive committee. The couple married in 1994 and immediately began systematic investigation of witnesses reporting abduction experiences, using careful field methodology: notepad documentation, photographic evidence, and tape-recorded interviews. This work contributed to FUFOR's preliminary abduction report and established Swiatek as a credible field investigator within the organized UFO research community.

In 1999, Swiatek organized the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) International Symposium near Washington DC in Arlington, Virginia, which attracted over 600 attendees—a significant logistical achievement demonstrating her standing within MUFON's organizational structure. That same year, she began her most consequential institutional role: MUFON Virginia State Director, a position she has held since the summer of 2002 (24+ years). As state director, Swiatek oversees UFO reporting, investigation, and education within Virginia's chapter of MUFON, the largest civilian UFO research organization in North America.

Simultaneously, she has maintained membership on the executive committee of the Fund for UFO Research, solidifying her dual roles in two of America's oldest and most established UFO research institutions.

Publications and Media

Swiatek's most visible contributions have been editorial and artistic. She has lectured and created original artwork for several canonical UFO research publications:

• The UFO Evidence: A Thirty-Year Report, Volume II (1995) by Richard Hall, the definitive thirty-year synthesis of scientifically significant cases from 1964–1994. Swiatek's artwork and contributions appeared alongside systematic case summaries compiled by her husband Robert P. Swiatek.

• Extraterrestrial Encyclopedia (compiled by Ron Story), where she contributed both editorial and visual work.

• Journal of Abduction-Encounter Research (JAR), which Swiatek co-founded in 2007 and served as founding editor. The publication shifted to an online format but has remained continuously available, becoming a primary venue for systematic abduction case documentation and analysis.

Swiatek has also created covers and visual materials for the UFO Research Coalition and FUFOR publications over many years. Her media presence includes regular appearances on Coast to Coast AM, one of North America's most widely heard platforms for paranormal and UFO discussion, and interviews on the Kevin Randle podcast series.

Ongoing Work and Influence (2014–Present)

Swiatek has remained active in UFO education and community organizing. Since 2014, she has organized annual conferences for the Inter-National Fortean Organization (INFO), a research group focused on anomalous phenomena. She continues to sponsor and coordinate local UFO conferences, speaker events, and witness support activities throughout Virginia and the greater Washington DC region.

Her sustained presence across three decades—from grassroots abduction investigation (1994–present), to symposium organization (1999), to institutional leadership (2002–present), to journal founding (2007), to ongoing media engagement and conference coordination—marks her as a foundational figure in American civilian UFO research, particularly in the Eastern United States and within MUFON's organizational ecosystem.