The Mysterious Death of Zigmund Adamski: A Bizarre Unsolved Case
A man vanished without a trace, days later, his body was found with strange burns and no explanation. Was it murder, alien abduction, or something even stranger?
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Incident Summary:
In 1980, the quiet town of Todmorden, West Yorkshire became the focal point of one of the most puzzling UFO-related incidents in British history. First, the mysterious death of Zigmund Adamski, a 56-year-old coal miner, shocked the community when his body was found under strange circumstances atop a coal pile. Then, just a few months later, PC Alan Godfrey, the officer who discovered Adamski’s body, experienced a UFO encounter that would change his life.
Both incidents sparked intrigue and led many to speculate that they were connected. UFO investigators became convinced that Adamski’s death and Godfrey’s encounter were part of a larger, unexplained phenomenon involving extraterrestrial activity.
Background on Zigmund Adamski
Zigmund Adamski was a Polish-born coal miner living in Tingley, West Yorkshire, with his wife. A well-respected man, he had no known enemies and lived a quiet, peaceful life. On June 6, 1980, Adamski left his home to go shopping and never returned. For five days, his family and the police searched for him, but his whereabouts remained a mystery.
Then, on June 11, 1980, his body was discovered under highly unusual circumstances.
Discovery of Zigmund Adamski’s Body
On the morning of June 11, PC Alan Godfrey was called to a coal yard in Todmorden, where the body of an unidentified man had been found lying on top of a 10-foot pile of coal. The body was that of Zigmund Adamski, missing for five days.
When PC Godfrey arrived on the scene, he was immediately struck by the strange nature of the discovery:
Position of the Body: Adamski was found lying on his back, with no visible coal dust on his clothes despite being on a pile of coal. There were no signs of struggle or disturbance in the coal itself, suggesting he had been placed there carefully.
Clothing: Adamski’s shirt was missing, and his jacket was improperly buttoned. His clothes, otherwise intact, showed no signs of struggle or damage, further deepening the mystery.
Unexplained Burns: Adamski had strange burn marks on his neck, shoulders, and head. The burns were fresh and appeared to have been treated with an unknown green ointment. Medical experts were unable to identify the substance.
Cause of Death: The coroner determined that Adamski had died of a heart attack, but his facial stubble suggested he had only been missing for one day, despite having been gone for five.
The police were unable to explain how Adamski had ended up on top of the coal pile or where he had been during the five days he was missing. The burns and the green ointment were never identified, leaving the case unsolved.
PC Alan Godfrey’s UFO Encounter
Several months later, in November 1980, PC Alan Godfrey experienced something that would add an entirely new layer of mystery to the Zigmund Adamski case. In the early hours of the morning, while investigating a report of a missing cow, Godfrey encountered something unexplainable.
The UFO Sighting: While driving on a remote road in Todmorden, Godfrey saw a large, diamond-shaped object hovering above the road. Initially mistaking it for a bus, he quickly realized it was something far more unusual. The object appeared to spin rapidly, emitting a bright light that lit up the entire area. Godfrey stopped his patrol car to observe the object. He attempted to radio for assistance, but his equipment malfunctioned. As the craft hovered silently in front of him, he began sketching it in his notebook. Moments later, there was a blinding flash of light.
Missing Time: When Godfrey came to, he found himself sitting in his patrol car, much farther down the road, with 15 to 30 minutes of missing time. He had no memory of how he had travelled the distance or what had happened during the gap in time. His watch had stopped, and he felt disoriented.
Godfrey reported the incident to his superiors, but his claim was met with scepticism. Determined to understand what had happened, Godfrey sought the help of psychiatrists and underwent hypnotherapy to recover his memories.
Hypnosis and the Uncovered Memories
Alan Godfrey underwent hypnosis twice, once with a private psychiatrist and later with Dr. Jaffé, a highly regarded professional in the field. Both hypnosis sessions revealed the same extraordinary results, further validating his experience.
Abduction Experience: Under hypnosis, Godfrey recalled being taken aboard the diamond-shaped craft. He described being immobilized by a beam of light and then transported into a brightly lit, sterile room aboard the UFO. Inside, Godfrey encountered humanoid beings with large, almond-shaped eyes and smooth, bald heads. These beings communicated with him telepathically, assuring him that they meant no harm. They performed a medical examination on him, placing him on a table where strange instruments were used to examine his body.
Telepathic Communication: The beings, whom Godfrey referred to as “the doctors,” were calm and methodical. They seemed to be collecting data, not unlike the way human doctors might conduct an examination. Godfrey was shown images and symbols that he couldn’t fully comprehend, and the beings conveyed that they were observing humanity for reasons unknown.
The fact that two different psychiatrists conducted the sessions, and both revealed the same results, gave credibility to Godfrey’s account. Despite the strangeness of the experience, the consistency between both sessions led some UFO researchers to believe that Godfrey had indeed experienced something extraordinary.
The Aftermath and Attempts to Silence Alan Godfrey
Following his hypnosis sessions, PC Alan Godfrey became a reluctant figure of public interest. His UFO encounter was widely covered in the media, and he received significant attention from UFO investigators and enthusiasts. However, the West Yorkshire Police were not pleased with the publicity.
Pressure from Superiors: Godfrey was urged by his superiors to remain silent about the incident. His claims were dismissed internally, and he was pressured to take early retirement. His UFO encounter, combined with the unresolved Zigmund Adamski case, was seen as an embarrassment for the force, and they wanted to distance themselves from it.
Public Scrutiny: Despite the police pressure, Godfrey stood by his account and continued to speak about his experience. He faced ridicule from some in the media, but his credibility remained intact among UFO researchers. He cooperated with investigations conducted by prominent UFO investigators like Jenny Randles, who found his account compelling.
Unsolved Mysteries: The connection between Zigmund Adamski’s death and Godfrey’s UFO encounter was never officially established, but the strange details of both cases fuelled speculation. UFO enthusiasts believed that Adamski’s disappearance and death might have been linked to extraterrestrial abduction, given the burns and unexplained ointment found on his body.
Despite the widespread interest, both the Adamski case and Godfrey’s encounter were eventually shelved by the authorities, leaving both events shrouded in mystery.
The UFO and Lost Time Experiences
Godfrey’s description of the diamond-shaped UFO matched other sightings from the same era. The rapid spinning, bright light, and telepathic communication were hallmarks of many reported alien abduction cases. The missing time element, in particular, is a recurring theme in abduction stories, where individuals report losing hours of memory during an encounter with a UFO.
Godfrey’s case became a cornerstone of UFO research in the UK, as his experience mirrored many aspects of the well-documented Betty and Barney Hill abduction case in the US, where hypnosis also revealed memories of alien contact.
The Investigation and Legacy
Despite extensive investigation by UFO researchers, no definitive connection between Zigmund Adamski’s death and Alan Godfrey’s UFO encounter was ever proven. The strange burns on Adamski’s body, the unknown ointment, and the missing five days remain unexplained to this day.
As for PC Alan Godfrey, his life was forever changed by the encounter. Though he was pressured into retirement, he never wavered in his account of what had happened. The Todmorden UFO incident remains one of the most compelling unsolved cases in British UFO history.
Case Status
The mysterious death of Zigmund Adamski and the UFO encounter of PC Alan Godfrey remain officially unsolved. The circumstances surrounding both events have left them open to speculation, but no conclusive explanation has ever been offered.
The Story
The Mysterious Encounter of PC Alan Godfrey: A Patrol into the Unknown
It was a cold, quiet night in November 1980 when PC Alan Godfrey set out on what he thought would be a routine patrol through the small town of Todmorden, West Yorkshire. A few months had passed since Godfrey had found the body of Zigmund Adamski, and though the strange circumstances of that case continued to puzzle him, his duties as a police officer kept him busy with more immediate tasks. The town had a familiar rhythm, quiet streets, the occasional disturbance, but nothing particularly out of the ordinary.
That November night, however, something extraordinary was about to unfold. Around 5 a.m., Godfrey received a report of a missing cow from a nearby farm, a seemingly mundane call in the remote countryside. He set off in his patrol car, following a winding road into the rural outskirts of Todmorden. The early hours before dawn were always eerie, with a stillness in the air that made even the simplest of tasks feel charged with anticipation.
As Godfrey made his way down Burnley Road, his attention was drawn to something unusual in the distance. At first, he thought it was a bus, or perhaps a lorry, blocking the road ahead. But as he got closer, it became clear that this was no ordinary vehicle. What he saw was an object hovering just above the road, a large, diamond-shaped craft, spinning slowly, emitting a brilliant white light that bathed the surrounding trees and road in an otherworldly glow.
The object seemed to float effortlessly, without any sound. Its size and the way it hovered above the road left Godfrey in stunned disbelief. Years on the force had trained him to keep calm under pressure, but nothing could have prepared him for what he was witnessing.
Instinctively, he pulled his patrol car to a stop and reached for his radio to call in the sighting. But to his frustration, the radio had stopped working. Even the car’s electrical system seemed to be malfunctioning. Godfrey was stranded, alone on a dark road, with this mysterious craft looming ahead of him.
Realising that no help would be coming, Godfrey did what any seasoned officer would do, he tried to document what he was seeing. Grabbing his notebook, he quickly began sketching the strange, diamond-shaped object. Its surface was smooth, metallic, and reflective, catching the light as it spun. It had an almost hypnotic quality, and Godfrey found himself transfixed.
Suddenly, there was a blinding flash of light, brighter than anything he had ever seen. The next thing Godfrey knew, he was no longer sitting in the same spot. His patrol car had somehow moved down the road. Disoriented and confused, he checked his watch, it had stopped. He looked at the car’s clock, 15 to 30 minutes had passed, but he had no memory of what had happened during that time.
Feeling shaken but determined to understand what had just occurred, Godfrey returned to the station to report the incident. He explained what he had seen and experienced to his colleagues, but his account was met with a mixture of disbelief and amusement. A hovering craft? Missing time? It sounded like the stuff of science fiction, not something a respected police officer would encounter on a routine patrol. His superiors didn’t seem to take the story seriously, but Godfrey knew something extraordinary had happened to him.
The Hypnotherapy Sessions: Uncovering the Lost Time
In the weeks following the incident, Godfrey couldn’t shake the feeling that there was more to the story. The missing time nagged at him. What had happened during those lost 15 to 30 minutes? What had caused the flash of light? And most disturbingly, how had his patrol car moved without him being aware of it?
Seeking answers, Godfrey turned to hypnotherapy. It was an attempt to recover the memories that had seemingly vanished during the encounter. His first session was conducted by a private psychiatrist, who specialized in regression therapy. Godfrey was put into a deep hypnotic state, and as the session progressed, the missing time began to fill in with startling clarity.
Under hypnosis, Godfrey recalled being taken aboard the craft. The flash of light, which had disoriented him in the moment, was part of a transportation process. He remembered being lifted from his patrol car by an unseen force and brought inside the hovering object. The interior of the craft was bright, sterile, and cold, with smooth metallic walls that seemed to reflect the light from within.
Godfrey was laid on a flat surface, unable to move. He described the sensation of being immobilised, but not out of fear, more like being held in place by a force he couldn’t understand. As he lay there, humanoid beings appeared. These beings, which he later referred to as “the doctors,” had large, almond-shaped eyes and smooth, bald heads. Their features were soft, but their appearance was undeniably otherworldly. They moved with purpose but communicated through telepathy rather than speech.
One of the most vivid details Godfrey recalled was the sense that these beings were not hostile. In fact, they exuded a calm, almost clinical detachment, as though they were simply conducting an experiment or gathering information. They examined him, using strange instruments that he couldn’t identify. The beings seemed to be collecting data from his body, but at no point did he feel pain or discomfort.
During the examination, Godfrey was shown images, symbols, landscapes, and scenes he couldn’t fully comprehend. These images were imprinted into his mind, but their meaning remained elusive. It was as if the beings were attempting to communicate something, but the message was beyond his understanding.
When the examination was complete, Godfrey was returned to his patrol car, just as mysteriously as he had been taken. The missing time was the result of this abduction experience, and the flash of light was what had transported him between the craft and his car.
Feeling both relief and disbelief at the memories recovered during hypnosis, Godfrey sought out a second opinion. He underwent a second hypnotherapy session, this time with the highly respected psychiatrist Dr. Jaffé. Remarkably, the results were the same. Under hypnosis, Godfrey recalled the exact same details, the transportation aboard the craft, the examination by the humanoid beings, and the telepathic communication. The fact that two independent sessions produced identical results gave Godfrey’s story an air of credibility, even if it remained unbelievable to many.
The Pressure to Stay Silent
Despite the revelations uncovered through hypnosis, PC Alan Godfrey found little support from his superiors at the West Yorkshire Police. His account of the UFO encounter, and the strange circumstances surrounding it, became a source of embarrassment for the force. The story attracted media attention, and UFO researchers became increasingly interested in both Godfrey’s experience and the connection to Zigmund Adamski’s mysterious death.
As the public’s curiosity grew, Godfrey’s superiors pressured him to stay quiet. They didn’t want the police force associated with such outlandish claims, and they were concerned about how the case might reflect on their credibility. Godfrey was encouraged to take early retirement, and it became clear that continuing to speak out about the incident could jeopardise his career.
Despite the pressure, Godfrey refused to back down. He knew what he had experienced was real, and the memories recovered through hypnosis only strengthened his conviction. He continued to speak with UFO researchers like Jenny Randles, who believed his account to be one of the most credible UFO encounters in the UK.
The Link to Zigmund Adamski’s Death
The death of Zigmund Adamski, which had occurred just a few months before Godfrey’s UFO encounter, remained unsolved. The strange burns on Adamski’s body, the unexplained green ointment, and the missing five days in which he had vanished all pointed to something beyond a simple heart attack. Some UFO researchers speculated that Adamski’s disappearance and Godfrey’s experience were connected, both part of a larger pattern of extraterrestrial activity in the area.
Though no official connection was ever made between Adamski’s death and Godfrey’s encounter, the proximity of the events in time and location fuelled speculation. Could Adamski have been the victim of a similar abduction, only to suffer a fatal heart attack during the ordeal? The burns on his body, which no one could explain, seemed to match descriptions of injuries in other abduction cases around the world.
Godfrey himself never claimed to know for sure, but the unresolved nature of both cases left many questions unanswered.
The Aftermath
After his early retirement, Alan Godfrey remained a central figure in the UFO community. His account, coupled with the consistency of his hypnotic regressions, earned him a reputation as one of the most credible UFO witnesses in the UK. Despite the ridicule and pressure, he faced from his former colleagues, Godfrey’s story became a cornerstone of UFO research in the UK.
The Todmorden incident, involving both Zigmund Adamski’s death and Godfrey’s UFO encounter, remains one of the most mysterious and well-documented cases in British history. To this day, neither event has been fully explained, and the truth behind what happened on that cold November night, and in the days before Zigmund Adamski’s body was found, continues to elude investigators.
For Godfrey, the encounter was more than just an unexplained event, it was a moment that forever changed his understanding of the world. Whether through human error, psychological phenomena, or contact with beings from another world, Godfrey’s story endures as a testament to the strange and unexplained.