David William Clarke (born 1967) is an investigative journalist, reader and lecturer at

Sheffield Hallam University Sheffield Hallam University (SHU) is a public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The university is based on two sites; the City Campus is located in the city centre near Sheffield railway station, while the Collegiate Cr ...

, England. He has a lifelong interest in

folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...

Fortean phenomena Charles Hoy Fort (August 6, 1874 – May 3, 1932) was an American writer and researcher who specialized in anomalous phenomena. The terms "Fortean" and "Forteana" are sometimes used to characterize various such phenomena. Fort's books sold w ...

and extraordinary personal experiences. He is frequently consulted by the national and international media on

contemporary legend An urban legend (sometimes contemporary legend, modern legend, urban myth, or urban tale) is a genre of folklore comprising stories or fallacious claims circulated as true, especially as having happened to a "friend of a friend" or a family m ...

and

UFOs An unidentified flying object (UFO), more recently renamed by US officials as a UAP (unidentified aerial phenomenon), is any perceived aerial phenomenon that cannot be immediately identified or explained. On investigation, most UFOs are id ...

and acted as curator for

The National Archives National archives are central archives maintained by countries. This article contains a list of national archives. Among its more important tasks are to ensure the accessibility and preservation of the information produced by governments, both ...

UFO project from 2008–13.

Education

Clarke graduated with a BA (Hons) from the

University of Sheffield , mottoeng = To discover the causes of things , established = – University of SheffieldPredecessor institutions: – Sheffield Medical School – Firth College – Sheffield Technical School – University College of Sheffield , type = Pu ...

in 1990 in Archaeology, Prehistory and Medieval History. He has a PhD in English Cultural Tradition and Folklore from the University of Sheffield. He obtained the National Certificate qualification in Newspaper Journalism from the

National Council for the Training of Journalists The National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ) was founded in 1951 as organisation to oversee the training of journalists for the newspaper industry in the United Kingdom and is now playing a role in the wider media. It is a self-ap ...

(NCTJ) in 1992 and is a member of the Association of Journalism Educators (AJE) and a fellow of the

Higher Education Academy Advance HE (formerly the Higher Education Academy) is a British charity and professional membership scheme promoting excellence in higher education. It advocates evidence-based teaching methods and awards fellowships as professional recogniti ...

(FHEA).Sheffield Hallam University Staff Profile
/ref>

Career

From 1991 Clarke worked as a news reporter and news editor for the ''Rotherham Advertiser'', ''

Sheffield Star ''The Star'', often known as the ''Sheffield Star'', is a daily newspaper published in Sheffield, England, from Monday to Saturday each week. Originally a broadsheet, the newspaper became a tabloid in 1993. ''The Star'', the weekly ''Sheffield ...

'' and ''

Yorkshire Post ''The Yorkshire Post'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper, published in Leeds in Yorkshire, England. It primarily covers stories from Yorkshire although its masthead carries the slogan "Yorkshire's National Newspaper". It was previously owned by ...

''. From 2000–2004 he worked as a Press Officer in the civil service. In 2005 he joined the Department of Media, Arts and Communication at

, becoming course leader for Journalism in 2010 and Reader/Principal Lecturer in 2015. He teaches Media Law and Regulation on the University's undergraduate and postgraduate journalism courses. He also contributes to modules on the history of journalism, investigative reporting and court reporting and supervises PhD students.

Research and publications

His research is focused upon his joint interests in folklore and journalism. In 2018 he launched the Centre for Contemporary Legend research (CCL) at Sheffield Hallam University. Since the 1990s much of his journalism has concentrated on investigations of British government policy on UFOs/UAPs, working from documents opened at the UK National Archives. From 1998 he used the UK's

Freedom of Information Act 2000 The Freedom of Information Act 2000 (c. 36) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that creates a public "right of access" to information held by public authorities. It is the implementation of freedom of information legislation ...

(FOIA) to gain access to closed UFO files held by the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

(MoD). This resulted in the release of the file on the famous Rendlesham Forest UFO incident in Suffolk, the MoD's report by the Flying Saucer Working Party used to brief

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...

and, in 2006, the DIS report ''UAPs in the UK Air Defence Region'' (also known as the Condign report). Between 2008 and 2013 Clarke acted as the media consultant and spokesperson for the Open Government project that oversaw the transfer of 210 public records on UFOs from the Ministry of Defence to The National Archives.The National Archives UFO Files
/ref> The project resulted in the public release of 60,000 pages of reports, correspondence and policy material on UFO-related issues in ten tranches. This material is available via the project website. At the completion of the project in 2018 Dr Clarke presented a public lecture at The National Archives; this is available as a podcast from the TNA website. Clarke's work on the MoD's UFO files and other archival material on unusual phenomena have been published in a series of books including ''Out of the Shadows: UFOs, the Establishment and the official cover-up'' (with Andy Roberts, 2002); ''Flying Saucerers: a social history of UFOlogy'' (with Andy Roberts, 2006); '' The UFO Files: The Inside Story of Real-Life Sightings'' (2009, second edition 2012); ''How UFOs Conquered the World: The history of a modern myth'' (2015); and ''UFO Drawings from The National Archives'' (2017). His books on folklore, Fortean studies and contemporary legend include ''Twilight of the Celtic Gods'' (with Andy Roberts, 1996); ''The Angel of Mons'' (2004); and ''Britain’s X-traordinary Files'' (2014).

Media work

He has made numerous media appearances to discuss UFO-related material. Clarke's media work has included the two-part series ''Britain’s X-Files'' for BBC Radio 4 and a BBC Timewatch programme on Britain's UFO files shown in 2004. He also appeared with former British Defence Minister Michael Portillo on ''Portillo’s State Secrets'' (2015) and Channel 5's ''Portillo's Hidden History of Britain'' (2018). His freelance journalism has appeared in a variety of UK and international newspapers, magazines and journals including ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', ''Folklore'', ''Contemporary Legend'', ''

BBC History ''BBC History Magazine'' is a British publication devoted to both British and world history and aimed at all levels of knowledge and interest. The publication releases thirteen editions a year, one per month and a Christmas special edition, an ...

'' and ''

Fortean Times ''Fortean Times'' is a British monthly magazine devoted to the anomalous phenomena popularised by Charles Fort. Previously published by John Brown Publishing (from 1991 to 2001), I Feel Good Publishing (2001 to 2005), Dennis Publishing (2005 to 2 ...

''.

Personal life

He is married to Carolyn Waudby, a poet and journalist.Star Interview: Sheffield expert with the key to Britain’s X-Files puts UFOs in the picture
Sheffield Star 26 September 2017

Selected bibliography

* ''Twilight of the Celtic Gods: Exploration of Britain's Hidden Pagan Traditions''. Blandford. * ''Out Of The Shadows: UFOs, the Establishment and the Official Cover Up''. Piatkus. . * ''The Angel of Mons: Phantom Soldiers and Ghostly Guardians''. John Wiley. * ''The UFO Files: The Inside Story of Real-life Sightings''. Bloomsbury. * ''Britain's X-Traordinary Files''. Bloomsbury. . * ''How UFOs Conquered the World: The History of a Modern Myth''. Aurum Press. * ''UFO Drawings From The National Archives''.

References

External links

Sheffield Hallam staff profile

Dr David Clarke's personal website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clarke, David 1967 births Academics of Sheffield Hallam University Alumni of the University of Sheffield British journalists English folklorists UFO writers Living people Fellows of the Higher Education Academy