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.
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.My Tweets
- RT @TheRealistHom: ‘Welcome back! Here’s some unpaid overtime to go with your drastically underpaid normal work.’ Unis continue to demonstr… 3 hours ago
- RT @forteantimes: Our festively fortean Christmas issue is now on sale! Ghost stories for Christmas; the mysterious men behind Mummers play… 2 days ago
- RT @lara_eleanor: Monthly train tickets cost: France: £66 Germany: £118 Belgium: £144 Spain: £108 Italy: £65 Britain: £381 When the billi… 3 days ago
- RT @1MollyWilliams: “The story must be dictated, not by a script they bring with them, but by what they find when they get there.” Great pi… 3 days ago
- RT @c_waudby: Universities have driven their workers into the ground. That’s why I’m striking | Amelia Horgan theguardian.com/commentisfree/… 5 days ago
Blog Stats
- 644,489 hits
Snopes.com – Rumour has it…
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Magonia Blog
- THE POETRY OF WITCHCRAFT December 4, 2019
- HOUSEHOLD INSURANCE November 30, 2019
- A UNIVERSE OF GHOSTS November 23, 2019
- JUST LIKE THAT . . . November 18, 2019
- IT'S ODD UP NORTH November 13, 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: Washington DC UFOs
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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