Born in Cortland, New York and raised in Binghamton, Serling graduated from Antioch College in 1942.^[5] He "deplored the name Jerome" and swapped his first and middle names as a young man.^[4] He was the older brother of screenwriter and The Twilight Zone creator Rod Serling.^[6]

Serling became full-time aviation editor for United Press International in 1960. He wrote at least eight novels and sixteen books of nonfiction. His novel The President's Plane Is Missing was made into a 1973 made-for-TV film starring Buddy Ebsen. He received the 1988 Lauren D. Lyman Award "for distinguished achievement in the field of aviation and aerospace journalism."^[7]

He had two children with his second wife, Priscilla Arone, a former Western Airlines stewardess. His daughter Jennifer is a veterinary technician.^[4]

Serling died of pancreatic cancer on May 6, 2010, at age 92 in Tucson, Arizona. He is buried beside his second wife, Priscilla Arone Serling, brother Rod Serling, and sister-in-law Carol Serling at Lake View Cemetery in Interlaken, New York.^{[4][8][9][10][11]}

• Was a United Press International, Washington, DC, reporter and manager of Radio News Division, 1945–60, aviation editor, 1960–66; air safety lecturer and consultant, beginning 1966.
• Received numerous honors of his work throughout his career: Trans-World Airlines, seven awards, 1958–65, for aviation news reporting, Strebig-Dobben Memorial Award, 1960; special citations from Sherman Fairchild Foundation, 1963, Flight Safety Foundation, 1970, and Airline Pilots Association, 1970; Aviation/Space Writers Association, James Trebig Memorial Award, 1964, special citation, 1967, award in fiction, 1966, for The Left Seat, and in nonfiction, 1969, for Loud and Clear.
• Collected commercial airline models (more than four hundred during his life) and material on aviation research.
• Member of the Society of Air Safety Investigators and the Aviation/Space Writers Association
• Brother Rod Serling hired him as a technical consultant (for which he received on-screen credit) for the airplane sequences in the episode "The Odyssey of Flight 33" of his hit TV-show The Twilight Zone. Robert Serling also received advisor or researcher credits on two other Rod Serling scripts: one each for scripts penned for Studio One and Playhouse 90.
• Something's Alive on the Titanic and The President's Plane Is Missing are fantasy novels set in real life high-profile backdrops.
• Was a reporter for the Washington Redskins. Travelled with the team and roomed with quarterback Eddie LeBaron.
• He was a very devout conservative Republican, in contrast to his brother’s liberal Democratic stance.
• Authored the short story "Ghost Writer" published in Twilight Zone: 19 Original Stories on the 50th Anniversary.
• In 2008, was featured speaker at the 32nd annual Airliners International collectibles show and convention in Dallas, Texas.^[12]

• Robert J. Serling at IMDb
• Robert J. Serling at LibraryThing