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.
What is Folklore?
Once upon a time… ‘Folklore’ meant ancient ballads or fairy tales or the peculiar superstitions and customs of ‘primitive’ peoples. Today folklore is a tool for studying custom and belief, urban legends, modern myth and even rumours spread via the internet. Much folklore can be found online and buried in the narrative content of media and social networking - from legends and reports of ghosts, UFOs and 'big cats' to language, customs and traditions. The study of folklore is centrally and crucially important 'in our attempts to understand our own behaviour and that of our fellow human beings' according to one scholarly definition. Folklore is a vital and ongoing area of study and one of the few academic disciplines that engage, in a fundamental way, with everyday life.-
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Curt Collins on saucers in pop culture
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- The NSA Cash-Landrum UFO Document
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Paul Kimball’s The Other Side of Truth: Don’t believe, don’t disbelieve. Think
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- Haunted Extra, Vol. 1.01 - Queen's County Museum Revisited
- 2017 East Coast Paraconference - Remote Viewing Panel
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Category Archives: Uncategorized
‘Fraught with Perils’: Jimmy Carter and NASA’s last strange trip into UFO territory
A number of US Presidents have expressed an interest in UFOs and extraterrestrials but only one has ever reported a sighting: Jimmy Carter. The 39th President held office from 1977 until 1981 during a period of intense public interest in … Continue reading
LOST AND FOUND: Project Condign, the UK MoD’s secret UFO study
The summer of 2023 may mark the highpoint of a renewed resurgence of interest in UFOs both in the corridors of the Pentagon and for the world’s media. But all the online debate around whistleblowers and imminent disclosure obscures the fact … Continue reading
Top Secret: clandestine introduction of nuclear weapons into the UK
Much has been written about the dread experienced by J. Robert Oppenheimer following the detonation of Trinity in 1945, depicted in Christopher Nolan’s new movie biopic of ‘the father of the atomic bomb’ But one of the most chilling outcomes of the Cold War … Continue reading
SAVING THE UFO ARCHIVES
‘This is a valuable record of occurrences connected with visits to this planet by unknown entities in flying saucers and other unidentified flying objects. It must not be destroyed or taken apart…it is hoped that in the event of some … Continue reading
Case Closed: 30th anniversary of the Cosford UFO flap
How a classic UFO ‘mystery’ was solved by a cold case investigation. Three decades ago in the early hours of Wednesday 31 March 1993 dozens of people across western Britain saw UAPs in the night sky. Read my latest SubStack … Continue reading
Alien Conversations: how to make UAPs respectable
Unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP) have long been SETI’s elephant in the room. Astronomers seek evidence of ET intelligences by searching for exo-planets and listening for signals from alien civilisations. But should the search effort be restricted to outer space? What if … Continue reading
Sheffield Hallam University to host 40th contemporary legend conference
Folklore experts from across the world will gather in Sheffield this summer to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the birth of urban legend studies in Steel City. Sheffield Hallam University was chosen to host the International Society for Contemporary Legend … Continue reading
The Calvine UFO photo: an unsolved mystery
They say that nature abhors a vacuum and that is definitely true in the case of the mysterious Calvine UFO photographs Last week the Scottish Daily Record reignited the hunt for the elusive photographer when it revealed the name Kevin Russell. That name appears on the … Continue reading
DrClarke now writes on Substack
From 9 March 2023 my postings will move Substack where my domain is DrClarke.substack.com My first Substack post examines the recent UFO and spy balloon shoot-downs over North America in the context of the long history of covert aerial reconnaissance … Continue reading