Welcome to my website
Dr David Clarke is a Principal Lecturer/Reader in Journalism at Sheffield Hallam University, UK. He teaches media law and journalism investigation skills. Before he entered academia he worked as a news reporter for The Sheffield Star and Yorkshire Post and spent four years working as a Press Officer in local government. His Ph.D 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 2016 he became one of the founders of 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.
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- Magonia Blog
- JUST LIKE THAT . . . November 18, 2019
- IT'S ODD UP NORTH November 13, 2019
- SEARCHING FOR WONDER November 11, 2019
- ‘MERRILY I SAY UNTO YOU…’ November 7, 2019
- BELIEVING IN NOT-BELIEVING - THE NEW ATHEISTS October 31, 2019
- 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
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- 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
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- Curt Collins on saucers in pop culture
- The Cash-Landrum UFO Case Document Collection October 3, 2019
- Ufology's Legacy from Loch Ness August 29, 2019
- Documents Released via FOIA on the AATIP UFO Videos August 18, 2019
- Documenting Luis Elizondo's Leadership of the Pentagon's UFO Program June 13, 2019
- The US Government’s Cash-Landrum UFO Investigations, Part Two March 7, 2019
- 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
- Synchronicity, Irish Style September 9, 2019
- Project Blue Book - A Review January 28, 2019
- Stan Friedman Retires March 13, 2018
- Halifax gets Haunted! September 29, 2017
- Haunted Extra, Vol. 1.01 - Queen's County Museum Revisited August 17, 2017
Tag Archives: The National Archives
100 years of Fake News: The German Corpse Factory
False stories that masquerade as real news are not a product of the modern age. But few realise the modern era of ‘Fake News‘ began one hundred years ago – during the carnage of the First World War. In the … Continue reading
Farewell to the ‘mystical astronaut’: Edgar Mitchell 1930-2016
Edgar Mitchell, the sixth man to walk on the moon who became a celebrity believer in the UFO myth, has died aged 85. The Guardian newspaper once described the retired NASA astronaut as being an unlikely name on the list … Continue reading
The Scottish Roswell
The Sunday Express and Metro have today published a preview of a chapter from How UFOs Conquered the World that exposes the truth behind ‘the Scottish Roswell’. Journalist Mark Branagan says the Ardgay mystery has ‘intrigued UFO hunters since it was … Continue reading
Portillo’s State Secrets: Mysteries
The BBC2 series Portillo’s State Secrets unearths previously classified documents from The National Archives, revealing fascinating facts from Britain’s past. The episode on 26 March covers ‘Mysteries‘ and I have compiled this blogpost for The National Archives to accompany the … Continue reading
British Army tried to harness ‘supernormal’ powers in WW2
Records I discovered at The National Archives show the British Army’s top brass tried to harness ‘supernormal‘ powers during the war against Hitler – and may still be conducting experiments on a range of special powers. An article by Mark … Continue reading
Common Sense About UFOs – The Unopened File
Britain’s Ministry of Defence is often accused of hiding ‘top secret’ files on UFOs or not being entirely honest about what it knows about the subject. Conspiracy-minded UFO truthers got excited last year when the ministry announced it had found … Continue reading
Foxtrot 94 – a Cold War mystery solved
One of the most enduring mysteries of the Cold War – the disappearance of US pilot William Schaffner in a secret RAF exercise above the North Sea – has finally been laid to rest. Captain Scaffner was just 28 years … Continue reading
