Section D · Investigative journalists · 1967–

David Clarke

Investigative journalist and academic (Sheffield Hallam) · curator of the MoD UFO files

Biography

Investigative journalist and academic at Sheffield Hallam University (b. 1967). From 2008 to 2013 he was curator of the project to declassify the British Ministry of Defence's UFO files at The National Archives, overseeing their public release. From a skeptical, documentary stance he treats the phenomenon as social history and an archival problem, not faith: author of 'How UFOs Conquered the World' and 'UFO Drawings from The National Archives'.

Why they're here · 3 pieces

  1. 2002

    Out of the Shadows (con Andy Roberts)

    History of the British establishment's handling of the UFO phenomenon

  2. 2008

    Archivos OVNI del MoD (The National Archives)

    Curator of the declassification and public release of the files

  3. 2015

    How UFOs Conquered the World

    Social and cultural history of the phenomenon from a skeptical lens

Sources

Associated cases (3)

United Kingdom.

Rendlesham Forest· 1980

Between 26 and 28 December 1980, USAF personnel at the Bentwaters and Woodbridge bases reported lights and a triangular object with engraved markings in Rendlesham Forest, next to a nuclear-weapons store. Deputy commander Charles Halt recorded the second night live and signed an official memo; ground marks and elevated radiation remained.

S70%
United Kingdom.

Calvine · Perthshire· 1990

On 4 August 1990, two men photograph a large diamond-shaped object hovering silently over the moors at Calvine, Scotland, with a military jet visible nearby. They handed the photos to a newspaper, which passed them to the Ministry of Defence; the originals 'disappeared' and were never published. David Clarke recovered a copy 32 years later.

A62%
United Kingdom.

Howden Moor · rescue operation for a phantom object· 1997

On the night of March 24, 1997, after reports of an object that crashed or exploded over the Howden Moors (Peak District), emergency services mounted one of the region's largest search operations (~200 personnel, £50,000+). The British Geological Survey recorded two 'sonic events' that night; low-flying RAF jets were involved. But no aircraft turned up and radars detected nothing. A multi-agency case about an object the official apparatus searched for but never confirmed.

B28%

Synthesized bio from the UAP disclosure ecosystem — categorized by epistemological section (A-F).