Welcome
I am a folklore researcher, author and broadcaster. I began my career as a journalist at the Sheffield Star and spent four years working as a Press Officer. But my passion was always for folklore and in 1999 I completed a PhD in Folklore at the National Centre for English Cultural Tradition, University of Sheffield. I moved to Sheffield Hallam University in 2005 where for two decades I taught journalism and media law before I was promoted to Associate Professor. Working with colleagues who shared my interest in folklore, I co-founded the Centre for Contemporary Legend research group at SHU in 2018. I was Project Lead the AHRC-funded National Folklore Survey for England until I left the university in 2026 to return to full-time writing and broadcasting. My books include The Angel of Mons, How UFOs Conquered the World and Space Age Folklore that will be published by Reaktion in 2027. Contact me by email at furnival.news at googlemail.com
Category Archives: Uncategorized
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
Sheffield Hallam University to host 40th contemporary legend conference
It’s official folks: legend scholars are coming home to Steel City! The 40th conference of the International Society for Contemporary Legend Research (ISCLR) will be held at Sheffield Hallam University, 26-30 June 2023. The conference is ‘coming home’ because the … Continue reading
The Calvine photographs – MoD response to MP’s questions
The Ministry of Defence no longer hold records about the mysterious Calvine UFO photograph, says the UK Armed Forces minister, James Heappey MP. The government minister was responding to a Parliamentary enquiry to the MoD submitted by my Sheffield Heeley … Continue reading
We See Everything – even Flying Saucers
September 2022 marks the 70th anniversary of an unexplained sighting that confounded the Royal Air Force and led the British government to ‘take the UFO seriously’ for the first time. Just before 11 am on Friday, 19 September 1952 a … Continue reading
The Calvine UFO photograph – revealed
Read the full story of how I found the most famous UFO photo in the world in my exclusive story published by The Daily Mail here. And follow the breaking story over on UAPMedia UK. After thirty years immersed in … Continue reading
New claims in film by the ‘lad who photographed flying saucers’
Alex Birch whose photographs of UFOs puzzled experts on both sides of the Atlantic has released a film about his experiences – that he claims included meetings with the British royal family and a phone conversation with JFK. In Beyond … Continue reading
Canada’s UFO Files: book review
Search for the Unknown: Canada’s UFO files and the rise of conspiracy theory. Matthew Hayes. McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2022. Illustrated, index, 210 pages. A readable academic summary of the highlights of the little-known Canadian government UFO archive that includes some … Continue reading
Time-slipping beneath the Dark and Lonely Waters
‘I have heard one definition of haunting saying we are haunted by that which we cannot or cannot completely understand.’ These words of wisdom, spoken by England’s greatest living wizard Alan Moore open The Cult of Water, a dreamy, hypnotic … Continue reading
Away with the fairies: Cottingley photos exhibition
Five photographs of fairies dancing at the bottom of a Yorkshire garden that became ‘the world’s longest running hoax’ are the focus of a compelling new exhibition. The Cottingley fairies legend began in the summer of 1917 as the Great … Continue reading