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1980 · Todmorden, West Yorkshire, England (Burnley Road and a coal yard about 1.5 miles apart)

Todmorden: Adamski's death and PC Godfrey's missing time (1980)

Sourced, unconfirmed
Strength D · 4/10 · 1 independent
Evidence 1/4 · Witnesses 1/3 · Backing 2/3

A named police officer's report and sketch; a coroner's open verdict on Adamski; one witness to the sighting itself.

Plausibility Moderate
Score 10 · 8 factors for, 1 against

A serving police officer reported the sighting under his own name and paid for it in his career; the Adamski open verdict is a real record and he reported a dry patch of road under the craft, but it is a separate event, and the abduction detail came only under regression.

See the factors ↓

Unresolved
29 November 1980, about 5 am: PC Alan Godfrey's patrol car stopped on Burnley Road below a glowing diamond-shaped craft. · Illustration for uaptrail.com
When6-11 June 1980 (Adamski); 29 November 1980, about 05:00 (Godfrey)
WhereTodmorden, West Yorkshire, England (Burnley Road and a coal yard about 1.5 miles apart)
Backing1 independent
Evidenceofficial records

In June 1980 the miner Zigmund Adamski vanished on a trip for groceries and was found dead five days later on top of a coal pile in Todmorden, West Yorkshire, with burns dressed in an unidentified ointment and no coal on his suit; the coroner, Turnbull, returned an open verdict. PC Alan Godfrey, who attended the body, reported that at about 5 am on 29 November 1980, on Burnley Road about a mile and a half away, he came upon a bright diamond-shaped craft hovering just above the road. His radio failed and, while sketching it, he lost about 25 minutes, finding himself further down the road. Under hypnotic regression he later recalled a bed and small beings. Godfrey went public as a serving officer and says it damaged his career. Inspector Roy Teague retold both events on Reality Check in 2026.

Evidence, in date order (1)

  1. 1980Coroner James Turnbullofficial
    returned an open verdict on Zigmund Adamski's death (heart attack, place and cause unexplained) Adamski inquest, as told by Roy Teague on Reality Check (q-K6Wtc7_lM, 1:07:20)

How plausible · Moderate

A serving police officer reported the sighting under his own name and paid for it in his career; the Adamski open verdict is a real record and he reported a dry patch of road under the craft, but it is a separate event, and the abduction detail came only under regression.

  • ●●
    Access Godfrey was on duty at the scene, and attended Adamski's body.
  • ●●
    Cost of speaking Went public as a serving officer and says it harmed his career.
  • ●●
    Character record Serving police constable.
  • ●○
    No gain sought He wrote a book.
  • ●○
    Consistent over time The core sighting has been told the same way by Godfrey himself for 45 years, in interviews and in print.
  • ●○
    Restraint He declines interviews now; the regression memories go further than the sighting.
Against
  • −
    Story grew The abduction elements emerged later, under hypnotic regression.

Plausibility weighs how well an account fits where secrecy hides the documents by design, so missing records never count against it. Strength measures what is documented. Assessed 2026-11-04.

Claims

Zigmund Adamski, a 56-year-old miner, left home for groceries on 6 June 1980 and vanished; five days later he was found dead on top of a 10 ft coal pile in a Todmorden yard, about 30 km from home, with burns treated with an unidentified ointment and no coal on his suit. PC Alan Godfrey attended and said Adamski's face looked as if he had died in terror.Reality Check Rewind: Insp. Roy Teague on British police UFO accountsAlan GodfreysecondhandSourced, unconfirmedRoy Teague
The coroner, Turnbull, found that Adamski died of a heart attack but returned an open verdict because he could not say where it happened or what caused it, given the burns and the ointment.Reality Check Rewind: Insp. Roy Teague on British police UFO accountssecondhandSourced, unconfirmedRoy Teague
At about 5 am on 29 November 1980, looking for cattle reported on Burnley Road, Godfrey saw a bright diamond-shaped craft hovering a couple of metres above the road, about a mile and a half from the coal yard. His radio failed; he began sketching it in his notebook, and the next thing he knew he was driving further down the road; about 25 minutes were unaccounted for.Reality Check Rewind: Insp. Roy Teague on British police UFO accountsAlan GodfreyfirsthandSourced, unconfirmedAlan Godfrey
Under hypnotic regression Godfrey recalled lying on a bed on some kind of ship with very small people around him.Reality Check Rewind: Insp. Roy Teague on British police UFO accountsAlan Godfreythread/entitiesfirsthandSourced, unconfirmedAlan Godfrey
Godfrey said that when he looked at the spot where the craft had hovered, the road surface beneath it was dry, swirled clean, while the rest of the road was wet from rain; he also noted leaves and twigs in a strange pattern.Alan GodfreyfirsthandSourced, unconfirmedAlan Godfrey
Some suggest the same agency took Adamski and Godfrey, and that Godfrey escaped.Reality Check Rewind: Insp. Roy Teague on British police UFO accountsspeculationLeadRoy Teague

Where

Todmorden, West Yorkshire, England (Burnley Road and a coal yard about 1.5 miles apart)
54.0°N 1.5°W · region only

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People and organizations

Alan Godfrey personRoss Coulthart person

Sources

Heard in (1)

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