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: Sheffield Hallam University
Sheffield Hallam University to host 40th contemporary legend conference
It’s official folks: legend scholars are coming home to Steel City! The 40th conference of the International Society for Contemporary Legend Research (ISCLR) will be held at Sheffield Hallam University, 26-30 June 2023. The conference is ‘coming home’ because the … Continue reading
The Calvine photographs – MoD response to MP’s questions
The Ministry of Defence no longer hold records about the mysterious Calvine UFO photograph, says the UK Armed Forces minister, James Heappey MP. The government minister was responding to a Parliamentary enquiry to the MoD submitted by my Sheffield Heeley … Continue reading
The Calvine UFO photograph – revealed
Read the full story of how I found the most famous UFO photo in the world in my exclusive story published by The Daily Mail here. And follow the breaking story over on UAPMedia UK. After thirty years immersed in … Continue reading
Two Podcasts: All About UFOs and Covid-19 folklore
Children’s publisher Usborne have reissued the classic 1977 title All About UFOs from The World of the Unknown series. The UFO title is the second in the series to be brought back through popular demand (a companion volume on ghosts … Continue reading
25 years ago: Alien film a FAKE says movie wizard
25 years ago crowds gathered to see the world premiere of the ‘alien autopsy‘ film at an international UFO congress held at Sheffield Hallam University. At the time I was journalist at the Sheffield Star and according to expert Philip … Continue reading
Close Encounters (at a distance): the UFOlore Podcast
The first episode of the UFOlore podcast is available on iTunes, Spotify and TuneIn. We hope this weekly dose of discussion surrounding the folklore of UFOs and those who see and believe in them will be a nostalgic distraction from … Continue reading
Yorkshire UFO crash mystery solved – after 60 years
THE wreckage of a miniature UFO that ‘crash landed’ on the North York Moors sixty years ago has been found – hidden in the archives of a London museum. The story has been claimed by some as Britain’s answer to … Continue reading
Dead Flows the Don
Dr David Clarke of Sheffield Hallam University appeared on a BBC Radio 3 documentary about the River Don. In the Sheffield Telegraph he traces the myths and legends of the river as it flows through Sheffield: One of my earliest … Continue reading
On the Side of the Angels
Sheffield Hallam University journalism lecturer David Clarke will present his research on the origins of some of the First World War’s best known legends at a public event in Leicester on 11 November. New Perspectives of the First World War … Continue reading