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…- Is This a Whale in a Venice Canal? July 24, 2017
- Charlie Gard’s Parents End Legal Battle for Experimental Treatment July 24, 2017
- Man With Chainsaw Wounds Five People in Swiss City, Sparking Police Manhunt July 24, 2017
- SNOPES.COM COMMUNITY: WE NEED YOUR HELP July 24, 2017
- Marijuana Business Offers Weed for Weeds on Cleanup Day July 24, 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
- An error has occurred; the feed is probably down. Try again later.
- 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
- 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
- A New Era for Physics? January 16, 2016
Tag Archives: Fortean Times
Hunting the Northern Lights
One of my ambitions has always been to take a voyage beyond the Arctic Circle in search of the elusive aurora borealis, or Northern Lights. For years I have been fascinated by the mythology of the lights and the stories … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged 11 year sunspot cycle, aurora borealis, BBC Stargazing Live, Bergen, Brian Cox, Carolyn Waudby, Dara O'Briain, dog-sledding, folklore, Fortean Times, Hurtigruten, king crabs, Kirkenes, Lofoten Islands, MS Midnatsol, NASA, Nordkapp, Northern Lights, Norway, Russia, Sami people, sea eagles, Sheffield Star, Thon Hotels, Tromso, Trondheim
Leave a comment
Angels makes FT Top 40
My investigation of the First World War legend, The Angels of Mons, is among the top ‘all time favourite stories’ chosen by a panel of contributors to Fortean Times magazine. ‘Angels of the Battlefield‘ – published in 2003 – came 4th … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged 4th Middlesex Regiment, angels of mons, armistice, Arthur Machen, Battle of Mons remembrance trail, BBC, Belgium, British Expeditionary Force, city of Mons, European Capital of Culture, Fortean Times, George Ellison, John Parr, Maurice Dease, Mons-Conde canal, phantom bowmen, Saint Symphorien cemetery, Ted Harrison, The Bowmen, urban legends, Victoria Cross, WW1 centenary
Leave a comment
Farewell to the Solway Spaceman?
Retired fire fighter Jim Templeton died on 27 November last year. His name will mean little to all but the more ardent students of Forteana and UFOlogy. But the ‘freak’ photograph he took in May 1964 on the Solway Marshes, … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Andy Roberts, Cumberland spaceman, Fortean Times, Jim Templeton, Men in Black, Solway Marshes, Solway spaceman
8 Comments
Scared to Death
The Fortean Times Unconvention 2011 – billed as the world’s weirdest weekend – returns to London in November. I’m on the bill for both days (12 and 13 November): on the Saturday I will be speaking about my research into … Continue reading
