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…- Terremotos en México: Rumores y Desinformación September 23, 2017
- Meth-Laced 7Up Reportedly Found in Mexico September 23, 2017
- Did Melania Trump Steal Her United Nations Speech from Michelle Obama? September 23, 2017
- NFL Commissioner, Players’ Union Angrily Denounce Trump September 23, 2017
- How To Seek Information on Loved Ones in Puerto Rico September 22, 2017
- Magonia Blog
- THE LIFE AND DEATH OF A UFO MAGAZINE September 23, 2017
- DEVIL OF A TALE September 21, 2017
- THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS August 29, 2017
- BRIEF LIVES August 19, 2017
- DIGGING THE DIRT August 15, 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
- Another Nonsensical "Explanation" for the Kecksburg Incident September 14, 2017
- A Skeptic on "UFO Classified" September 12, 2017
- Shadow Chasing August 30, 2017
- MUFON Unravels August 1, 2017
- "Disclosure" Mania Flares Up Again June 26, 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
- The Cash-Landrum UFO Prime Suspect: The CH-47, Army Chinook September 15, 2017
- General John A. Samford's 1952 UFO Disclosure August 2, 2017
- 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
- 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
- Haunted Extra, Vol. 1.01 - Queen's County Museum Revisited August 17, 2017
- 2017 East Coast Paraconference - Remote Viewing Panel August 15, 2017
- 2017 East Coast Paraconference - August 11, 12, 13 August 6, 2017
- Haunted - Cooper's Inn Outtake #2 August 3, 2017
- Haunted Outtake - Cooper's Inn (Part I) August 3, 2017
Tag Archives: Freedom of Information Act
The UFO Files: Our Man in Sheffield
I spent two decades on the trail of the UK Ministry of Defence’s cache of secret UFO papers. But little did I know that my FOI campaign triggered off a mole-hunt among the spooks – and a probe to discover … Continue reading
On the trail of the phantom copter
The Daily Mirror has published the results of my Freedom of Information research on the phantom helicopter mystery that plagued British police forty years ago. The full story was published in Britain’s X-traordinary Files and a summary can be found … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Britain's X-traordinary Files, Daily Mirror, Dr David Clarke, Fifth Column, Freedom of Information Act, Harrier jump jet, IRA, James Bond, Mail Online, MI5, Ministry of Defence, Peak District, phantom helicopters, Scotland Yard, Special Branch, Superintendent George Oldfield
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UFO files – saved!
After six decades of official indifference UFO records have been finally recognised by Britain’s Ministry of Defence as being ‘historically significant’. MoD’s ‘Guidance for Record Reviewers’, lists files on ‘unidentified flying objects‘ alongside those concerning nuclear testing, Special Forces and … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged archives, Brussels, Freedom of Information Act, gun camera film, ICA, International Council on Archives, Julian Hennsessy, Merlyn Rees MP, Ministry of Defence, Public Record Acts, Sir Robert Grigg, The Foreign Office, The Guardian, The National Archives, UFO desk, UFO files
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U-2 secret history revealed
News that the CIA has finally ‘officially acknowledged‘ the existence of Area 51 as the base where the U2 spyplane was developed will come as no big surprise to aviation historians. Some of the more far-gone UFOlogists prefer to believe … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Air Ministry, Anthony Eden, Area 51, Chris Pocock, CIA, Defence Intelligence Staff, Freedom of Information Act, George Washinton University, Groom Lake, Hugh Caillard, James Cunningham, Lakenheath-Bentwaters UFO incident, Lionel 'Buster' Crabb, Lockheed, Lt Milton Torres, MI6, MoD UFO files, National Security Archive, Nikita Krushchev, Project Blue Book, RAF, RAF Lakenheath, Third World War 1956, U2 spyplane, UFOs
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You Can’t Tell the People?: Margaret Thatcher and UFO secrets
The death of ‘Iron Lady’ Margaret Thatcher has deprived UFOlogists of an answer to an enduring question: what did she really know about Britain’s Roswell incident? Thatcher, who died on 8 April aged 87, was 19 months into her first … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Britain's Roswell, Eric Morris, Freedom of Information Act, Georgina Bruni, Greenham Common, Margaret Thatcher, Ministry of Defence, no defence significance, nuclear weapons, RAF Bentwaters-Woodbridge, Rendlesham forest incident, Rendlesham forest UFOs, UFOs, Winston Churchill, You Can't Tell the People
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The UFO Files Rebooted
The second edition of The UFO files was published by Bloomsbury on 13 September 2012. You can order the book from Amazon here or via the publisher’s website here. The National Archives press release on the book can be found … Continue reading
Seeing Sprites
Six years ago I used the Freedom of Information Act to obtain the release of a secret Ministry of Defence report on ‘Unidentified Aerial Phenomena’ (UAP). The study, codenamed ‘Project Condign‘, concluded that UAPs – as the MoD’s Defence Intelligence … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged atmospheric plasmas, ball lightning, Defence Intelligence Staff, Freedom of Information Act, International Space Station, mesosphere, Ministry of Defence, NASA, National Archives of Australia, Operation Close Encounter, phys.org, Project Condign, RAAF, radar angels, RAF Bentwaters/Lakenheath UFOs, Royal Australian Air Force, running rabbits, Science Daily, sprites, Sunday Times, Sydney airport, UAPs, unidentified aerial phenomena, Washington DC UFOs
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