David Clarke

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David Clarke
Illustration of official papers and files
Illustration: official papers and files. An artist's impression drawn for this site, not a photograph of the event.
TypePerson
On the Timeline2 events, 1993–2022

David Clarke is a British journalist, folklorist and academic at Sheffield Hallam University, known for his historical research on UFOs and for his role in the release of the UK Ministry of Defence's UFO files. He takes a skeptical, social-history approach to the subject.[1][2]

Freedom of Information

Illustration of lights in formation over the landscape
Illustration: lights in formation over the landscape. An artist's impression drawn for this site, not a photograph of the event.

After the UK's Freedom of Information Act came into force in 2005, Clarke used it to obtain official UFO records. In September 2005, with researcher Gary Anthony, he requested the secret Defence Intelligence Staff study later known as Project Condign, which was released on 15 May 2006; Clarke said it showed that the intelligence staff's UFO work had been larger than previously admitted, though it shed no new light on UFOs.[1]

The National Archives

Illustration of an open book about flying saucers
Illustration: an open book about flying saucers. An artist's impression drawn for this site, not a photograph of the event.

Clarke served as consultant and spokesman for the National Archives' project to release the MoD's UFO files, which put 209 files totalling about 52,000 pages online between 2008 and June 2013. He wrote a guide to the files, The UFO Files. He has written that the MoD closed its UFO desk in 2009 largely because of budget pressure and a flood of reports of what were probably Chinese lanterns.[2]

Later work

Illustration of Earth, the Moon and space
Illustration: Earth, the Moon and space. An artist's impression drawn for this site, not a photograph of the event.

Clarke has continued to obtain and publish official UFO documents, including the last files of the intelligence branch DI55, which reached him in 2018, and writes about the history of government UFO investigations in Britain and the United States, including the 1977 exchange between President Carter's science adviser and NASA.[3][4]

On the UAP Timeline

Illustration of official papers and files
Illustration: official papers and files. An artist's impression drawn for this site, not a photograph of the event.
  • Project Condign (2 December 1993) — A UK Ministry of Defence memo discusses a proposed UAP study.
  • Calvine UFO photograph (12 August 2022) — Researcher David Clarke publishes the 1990 'Calvine' UFO photo from MoD files.

References

This page was last edited on 29 October 2026. Articles are written in our own words from the sources listed under References; disputed claims are attributed to the people who made them.

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