Welcome
I am a folklore researcher, author and broadcaster. I began my career as a journalist at the Sheffield Star and spent four years working as a Press Officer. But my passion was always for folklore and in 1999 I completed a PhD in Folklore at the National Centre for English Cultural Tradition, University of Sheffield. I moved to Sheffield Hallam University in 2005 where for two decades I taught journalism and media law before I was promoted to Associate Professor. Working with colleagues who shared my interest in folklore, I co-founded the Centre for Contemporary Legend research group at SHU in 2018. I was Project Lead the AHRC-funded National Folklore Survey for England until I left the university in 2026 to return to full-time writing and broadcasting. My books include The Angel of Mons, How UFOs Conquered the World and Space Age Folklore that will be published by Reaktion in 2027. Contact me by email at furnival.news at googlemail.com
Tag Archives: Lee Spiegel
UFO Files make waves
The release of the ninth collection of MoD UFO files by The National Archives continues to make news across the world. On the first day of the launch (Thursday, 12 July) the website received almost 60,000 visitors – an uplift … Continue reading
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Tagged bbc news, BBC Radio 4 Today programme, Daily Mirror, Huffington Post, Lee Spiegel, Ministry of Defence, Richard Norton-Taylor, Sanchia Berg, Sky News, The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, The National Archives, The Sun, UFO files, USA Today, Voice of Russia
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Saucer Sam – the UFO story that convinced a Government minister
The second edition of my book The UFO Files – based on the latest documents released by The National Archives – will be published by Bloomsbury in September. One of the most interesting stories from the book was previewed in … Continue reading