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.
Snopes.com – Rumour has it…- An error has occurred; the feed is probably down. Try again later.
- 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
- The Pentagon's Updated Statement: AATIP Studied UAPs May 22, 2021
- Understanding the US Government's UFO Programs May 17, 2021
- 40 years and the Cash-Landrum UFO Case December 11, 2020
- Flying Saucer Swindlers: Four Convictions November 6, 2020
- UAP Task Force: The Pentagon Responds to Questions September 2, 2020
- 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
- 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
- Stan Friedman Retires March 13, 2018
Author Archives: Dr David Clarke
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
The Truth in NOT in here…
The RAF’s secret ‘X-files’ of reported UFO sightings in British skies are to be placed online for the first time – according to the media. This was the hyperbolic story published by the Mail Online, Metro, The Sun, Fox News … Continue reading
Codename Rendlesham
The Rendlesham Forest incident challenges Roswell as the most influential UFO legend in popular culture. Next Christmas marks the 40th anniversary of the story that began on Boxing Day morning, 26 December 1980. This marked the beginning of three nights … Continue reading
Folklore: 10 things you didn’t know about Halloween
What is the history of Halloween and when was it first celebrated? Why do we trick or treat? Why do we carve pumpkins? Dr David Clarke of the Centre for Contemporary Legend, Sheffield Hallam University, investigates the origins of this … Continue reading
