Welcome to my website
I am a Research Fellow in Journalism at Sheffield Hallam University where I specialise in teaching media law and investigation skills. Before I entered academia I worked as a news reporter for The Sheffield Star and Yorkshire Post and spent four years working as a Press Officer in local government. My Ph.D is in Folklore and was completed at the National Centre for English Cultural Tradition, University of Sheffield, in 1999. Since 2008 I have been working with The National Archives (TNA) as their consultant for the ongoing release of the UFO files created by Britain's Ministry of Defence. My latest book, How UFOs Conquered the World: the history of a modern myth, was published in 2015.
Snopes.com – Rumour has it…- Did Muslim Federal Judge ‘Mahal al Alallaha-Smith’ Rule that Two Items of Sharia Law Are Now Legal? July 25, 2017
- Did Anthony Scaramucci Post a Sexually Explicit Tweet in 2009? July 25, 2017
- Is a Wisconsin Company Offering to Microchip its Employees? July 25, 2017
- Creflo Dollar Debuts New Pulpit Made Entirely of Hundred Dollar Bills? July 25, 2017
- Did a Middle School Student Break Both Arms Jumping Off a Water Tower for a Science Project? July 25, 2017
- Magonia Blog
- PICTURING PHILOSOPHY July 23, 2017
- AWAY WITH THE FAIRIES July 21, 2017
- NORTHERN ECHOES: 50 YEARS ON July 18, 2017
- SIGNPOSTS TO UTOPIA July 16, 2017
- GOD'S BLACK EYE July 12, 2017
- 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
- "Disclosure" Mania Flares Up Again June 26, 2017
- In Search Of "Progress" in UFOlogy - At the End of the Road? June 19, 2017
- William Tompkins Reveals Reptilians, Nordics, Nazi Saucers, and Much More May 22, 2017
- Tom DeLonge's "Sixtyish" Days to UFO Disclosure Become "Ninetyish" May 17, 2017
- Satellites Flash and Flare April 7, 2017
- 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
- Exciting news from Mr X August 13, 2016
- The First Forteans: The Light of Other Days August 11, 2015
- Edinburgh Fringe 2015 August 5, 2015
- A Baby Boy! August 5, 2015
- Fortean Approaches to the Study of Religion May 6, 2015
- Curt Collins on saucers in pop culture
- UFOs, Sea Serpents, Ridicule and Disinformation July 17, 2017
- The Saucers That Time Forgot July 11, 2017
- Dr. J. Allen Hynek: Ufology is a Mess June 30, 2017
- 1954 UFO Whistleblower: Frank E Keely June 23, 2017
- John Keel, Witness to the Birth of the UFO Subculture June 16, 2017
- 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
- 2017 East Coast Paraconference July 25, 2017
- Political Paul July 24, 2017
- Haunted - Stalking Dillon July 24, 2017
- Haunted July 23, 2017
- I Went to a Hockey Game and Some Synchronicity Broke Out! January 17, 2016
Tag Archives: crying boy
Happy birthday, Crying Boy!
Thirty years ago this month the British tabloids were full of stories about mysterious fires breaking out in houses across the north of England – and the only survivor was a mawkish print of a crying boy. The legend began … Continue reading →
Posted in Uncategorized
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Tagged Big Eyes, Bragolin, crying boy, curse of the crying boy, Halloween, Kelvin McKenzie, Margaret Keane, Rotherham, Sheffield Star, South Yorkshire, Steve Punt, The Sun, Tim Burton, urban legend
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The Curse of the Crying Boy
It came from the same tabloid headline factory that produced ‘Freddie Starr Ate My Hamster‘ – and the Curse of the Crying boy continues to live online. I will presenting a paper on this quintessential urban legend at the Folklore … Continue reading →
Posted in Uncategorized
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Tagged Benjamin Radford, Bragolin painting, Cardiff University, crying boy, curse, curse of the crying boy, Folklore Society, Freddie Starr ate my hamster, Kelvin McKenzie, Robert Bartholomew, School of Welsh, Silly Season, The Martians Have Landed!, The Sun, urban legends
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