UFOs at the National Archives

David Clarke

Magonia 98, September 2008

 

For the past six decades the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has kept what it knew about the topic of 'unidentified flying objects' locked away in its archives. Unlike their counterparts in the USA, who ran an officially-funded 'UFO project' for two decades, the British MoD preferred to quietly monitor the subject and preferred to say nothing publicly about its UFO policy or the results of investigations of reported sightings, particularly those by aircrew.

UFO Hoaxing and the Story of Alex Birch

David Clarke and Andy Roberts

Magonia 75, July 2001

In 1962 Alex Birch was one year older than Stephen Darbishire had been when he took the photographs that changed his life. His single black and white picture has since entered the UFO mythology as one of the best-known photographic hoaxes – or was it? Alex’s family were considerably less financially well-off than the Darbishire’s; the Birch parents lived in a modest house at Mosborough, at that time in Derbyshire but actually on the outskirts of Sheffield.

UFO Hoaxing and the Story of Stephen Darbishire

David Clarke and Andy Roberts

Magonia 75, July 2001

 

Whenever ufologists turn their attention to the subject of hoaxing within their subject the fundamental gulf between sceptics and believers is brought sharply into focus. Those who choose to invest belief in the ETH and other exotic explanations for the UFO phenomenon tend towards the simplistic party line that, yes, hoaxes exist, but they are few and far between and have little effect on `serious ufology’. Sceptics and more open-minded students of flying saucery are a little more realistic.

Howden Moor: Roswell Meets Peak Practice

David Clarke
Magonia 70, March 2000

“This pattern … with a discredited case being tenaciously supported by an increasingly convoluted set of claims and counter claims has already been well-established in the Fortean world… If the following for such cases continues… it is likely that it is the needs of the audience rather than any persuasive arguments in the cases that keeps them alive…” – Neil Nixon [1]

From My Pennine Valley Notebook

David Clarke

Magonia 33, July 1989

In Magonia (August 1988) Peter Rogerson writes that ufologists must accept that as recorders of stories we are in effect folklorists, and this is how our writings may be regarded by historians in centuries to come: “the dominant folklore in British ufology at the moment appears to be earthlights or spooklights … the powerful appeal of this concept lies in its romantic roots. It is a folklore of open spaces, where tales still survive of the eeriest secrets of wild nature, before TV and streetlights robbed them of their wonder.“

Why Cracoe Fell

David Clarke

Magonia 26, June 1987

I am writing this account as an independent observer of both the main protagonists involved in the birth and demise of the Cracoe, North Yorkshire, UFO case. As a BUFORA investigator in the Yorkshire area I have watched the presentation and propagation of this case by it proponents, the Yorkshire UFO Society, and the counter-investigation by the West Yorkshire UFO Research group.

Spooklights in Tradition and Folklore

David Clarke
Magonia 24, November 1980.

Few people today will have heard about the once common phenomenon known generally in the British Isles as ‘Will o’the Wisp’ or ‘Jack o’Lantern’. Prior to the end of the 19th century this rural mystery was a terror familiar to night travellers, especially in the marshy, undrained areas which still remained in many parts of England.