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
The UFO that Never Was?: the Calvine photographs
Is this blurry image really the ‘most compelling evidence’ for UFOs visiting the UK? Does it show a secret US ‘black project’ operating over Scotland? Or are the Calvine photographs an aerial version of the Loch Ness Monster? After a … Continue reading
How UFOs Conquered the World – without firing a shot
BBC History Magazine/History Extra published my article that explains how the idea of visitors in mysterious flying objects grew from its origins in the Cold War into the most enduring modern myth. You can read the main feature here (password … Continue reading
ATTACK OF THE DRONES
At 9pm on Wednesday, 19 December 2018, a security guard left work at Gatwick in Sussex, Britain’s second busiest airport. As he waited in the rain for a bus he saw two lighted objects hovering low in the sky inside … 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
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