Stanton Terry Friedman was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey on July 29, 1934. He received bachelor's and master's degrees in physics from the University of Chicago. He was a nuclear physicist who worked on projects for General Electric, Westinghouse, TRW, and McDonnell Douglas. He became a true believer of extraterrestrial life in 1960 and left nuclear physics to focus on ufology full-time in 1970. He lectured on the subject and wrote several books including Crash at Corona: The U.S. Military Retrieval and Cover-Up of a U.F.O. written with Don Berliner and Captured! The Betty and Barney Hill U.F.O. Experience written with Kathleen Marden. He died from a heart attack on May 13, 2019 at the age of 84.