Welcome to my website
David Clarke is Associate Professor in the Department of Media Arts and Communication at Sheffield Hallam University, UK. He teaches media law and his research specialism is contemporary legend. Previously he worked as a journalist for The Sheffield Star and Yorkshire Post and spent four years working as a Press Officer in local government. His PhD in Folklore and was completed at the National Centre for English Cultural Tradition, University of Sheffield, in 1999. From 2008-13 he acted as consultant and curator of the MoD UFO files project with The National Archives. His books include The Angel of Mons (2004) and How UFOs Conquered the World: the history of a modern myth (2015). In 2018 he co-founded the Centre for Contemporary Legend at Sheffield Hallam University. This blog covers his twin research interests in journalism and folklore. The views expressed in the contents are entirely his own.
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- Magonia Blog
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- Mark Pilkington & John Lundberg – Folklore & Deception in the UFO Age
- Mirage Men in The Guardian August 18, 2014
- Mirage Men Double Disc DVD June 16, 2014
- UFOs and F-14s over Iran May 2, 2014
- We have lift off! March 27, 2014
- Mirage Men revealed by Greenwald? February 25, 2014
- Bob Sheaffer’s Bad UFOs
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- The Skeptic magazine
- Ooops! TWO errors in previous message! October 1, 2015
- October Spookiness! October 1, 2015
- Empirical Sex Talk on Dacryphilia, tonight October 1, 2015
- Little Atoms 393 – Timothy Snyder & Black Earth September 30, 2015
- Ash Pryce on "How to talk to the dead" @ Greenwich SitP, 7:30 pm, 7/10/15 September 30, 2015
- Charles Fort Institute Blog
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- Curt Collins on saucers in pop culture
- Cash-Landrum UFO Disinformation: Rick Doty & Bill Moore June 22, 2022
- Bill Moore and UFO Disinformation Accusations April 29, 2022
- The Pentagon UFO Program: Documents Released April 7, 2022
- UFOs: The Long Black Road December 23, 2021
- Contact in Texas: The Lost UFO Photos November 18, 2021
- Andrew May’s Forteana blog
- Pseudoscience and Science Fiction October 9, 2016
- Astronomical debunking October 2, 2016
- Contradiction - the All-Video Murder Mystery September 25, 2016
- Sacred Porn September 18, 2016
- Astronomical computers (old ones) September 11, 2016
- Paul Kimball’s The Other Side of Truth: Don’t believe, don’t disbelieve. Think
- Nick Pope - Useful Idiot of the Far Right June 29, 2022
- Who Are They? What Do They Want? May 16, 2021
- An Empty Suit April 20, 2021
- Synchronicity, Irish Style September 9, 2019
- Project Blue Book - A Review January 28, 2019
Author Archives: Dr David Clarke
Radar & UAPs – a new resource
For 2021 I have launched a new resource on my website that is dedicated to Radar, UAPs and other anomalies related to radar detection systems. The case studies range from anomalous ‘angels‘ detected by the earliest RDF sets in the … Continue reading
Rendlesham UFOs 40th anniversary: The Man from the Ministry speaks for the first time
This weekend marks the 40th anniversary of Britain’s best known UFO legend, when unidentified Christmas lights haunted the sky above Suffolk’s Rendlesham forest. Books, TV dramas and films have portrayed the sightings reported by groups of US air force personnel … Continue reading
The Real UFO Project
Christmas 2020 marks the 40th anniversary of the Rendlesham Forest mystery, Britain’s best known UFO legend. To mark the event I have contributed a chapter to a new book co-edited by John Burroughs, one of the original USAF airmen witnesses … Continue reading
THE STONES OF THE CROOKED GLEN
A Halloween story published by The Guardian newspaper reveals how a group of mysterious stones continue to be venerated in a remote Scottish glen. The Tigh nam Bodach or House of the Cailliche (Old Woman) is a small rocky shrine … Continue reading
Two Podcasts: All About UFOs and Covid-19 folklore
Children’s publisher Usborne have reissued the classic 1977 title All About UFOs from The World of the Unknown series. The UFO title is the second in the series to be brought back through popular demand (a companion volume on ghosts … Continue reading
25 years ago: Alien film a FAKE says movie wizard
25 years ago crowds gathered to see the world premiere of the ‘alien autopsy‘ film at an international UFO congress held at Sheffield Hallam University. At the time I was journalist at the Sheffield Star and according to expert Philip … Continue reading
Won’t Get Fooled Again?: The alien autopsy film (2006)
This piece originally appeared in the Flyingsaucery column of Fortean Times 210 (2006) to mark the release of the movie Alien Autopsy. UFOlogists are always keen to play down the amount of hoaxing that goes on within the subject and … Continue reading
Britain’s Ritual Protection Marks
‘Witch marks‘ is a relatively new term popularly used to describe a range of ritual protective marks and charms that are carved and etched into the structure of churches, grand buildings and caves in Britain and elsewhere. I have summarised … Continue reading
Going ‘out there’ in SoCal: Fortean Traveller
One year ago, in June 2019, I spent a week on the road in southern California with friends Dr Tom Clark and Professor Chris Bader seeking out UFO contactee cults, quirky museums and modern ghost-hunters. Our account of the trip, … Continue reading
Close Encounters (at a distance): the UFOlore Podcast
The first episode of the UFOlore podcast is available on iTunes, Spotify and TuneIn. We hope this weekly dose of discussion surrounding the folklore of UFOs and those who see and believe in them will be a nostalgic distraction from … Continue reading
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