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.My Tweets
- RT @forteantimes: New issue now on sale! The strange genesis of Dave & Toni Arthur’s occult-folk classic; UFOs and radar; Dyatlov Pass revi… 3 hours ago
- Johnston says he feels "a bit guilty" about his previous life in #journalism: presumably not about drawing his £275… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… 20 hours ago
- RT @guardian: Steve Bell on Boris Johnson's thoughts on journalism — cartoon theguardian.com/commentisfree/… 1 day ago
- RT @folk_horror: The new issue of @forteantimes arrived today and it's another corker, with an in depth look by @Bob_Fischer at the classic… 1 day ago
- RT @NASA: You might have seen photos from Mars, but have you seen high-speed video? 🤩 We captured our @NASAPersevere rover’s final minutes… 1 day ago
Blog Stats
- 700,972 hits
Snopes.com – Rumour has it…
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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
- 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
- UFO Documents: Provenance and Credibility by Barry Greenwood June 28, 2020
- Pentagon Answers on Navy UAP Investigations May 18, 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
- Synchronicity, Irish Style September 9, 2019
- Project Blue Book - A Review January 28, 2019
- Stan Friedman Retires March 13, 2018
- Halifax gets Haunted! September 29, 2017
- Haunted Extra, Vol. 1.01 - Queen's County Museum Revisited August 17, 2017
Tag Archives: Doug Vakoch
The Visit: an alien encounter
My personal highlight from the 2015 Sheffield’s International Documentary Film Festival is an experimental film that poses a fundamental human question – if aliens were to land on Earth, what would happen? What plans do governments and other agencies have in place to … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Admiral of the Fleet Lord Michael Boyce, alien visitations, Chief of Defence Staff, CNES, David Attenborough, David Cameron, Doug Vakoch, Lise Lense-Moller, Lord Boyce, Michael Madsen, Ministry of Defence, Paul Beaver, SETI, Sheffield Doc/Fest, The Visit: an alien encounter, UFOs, UN Office for Outer Space Affairs, UN Security Council, United Nations, UNOOSA, Vickie Sheriff
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