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Tag Archives: Guinness Book of Records

UFOs and the mythical ‘acclimatisation programme’

Posted on November 24, 2014 by Dr David Clarke

Every so often the release of archive documents throws up another gem from the bygone era when flying saucers really were taken seriously by world governments. The most recent turned up in a collection of papers produced by Irish diplomats … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged acclimatisation programme, Anthony Eden, CIA, Colin Powell, Disclosure project, Donald Keyhoe, flying saucers, Guinness Book of Records, H.G.Wells, Kenneth Arnold, Leonard C. Lewin, literary hoaxes, Lou Cannon, Mikhail Gorbachev, Mirage Men, MJ-12 hoax, National Archives of Ireland, operation Majestic 12, Professor Robert Segal, ronald reagan, Roswell incident, Royal Irsih Academy, Stanton Friedman, The Day the Earth Stood Still, The Flying Saucers are Real, The Report from Iron Mountain, The War of the Worlds, UFO cover-up, UFO myth, UFOs, USAF | 5 Comments
  • 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.
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