Todmorden UFO Incident

The Encounter

On the morning of 28 November 1980, Police Constable Alan Godfrey was nearing the end of his night shift in Todmorden, West Yorkshire, when he was dispatched to investigate reports of escaped cattle on a local housing estate. At approximately 5:00 am, while driving on Burnley Road, Godfrey observed a large, rotating diamond-shaped object hovering above the roadway. He described it as approximately 20 feet high and 14 feet wide, exhibiting a bright, glowing appearance. When he attempted to radio for assistance, he discovered that both his vehicle's VHF radio and his personal UHF "batphone" had ceased functioning.

Missing Time

The object suddenly vanished in a brilliant flash of light. Godfrey found himself sitting in his patrol car roughly thirty yards further down the road. His wristwatch and the car's clock both indicated that approximately 25–30 minutes had elapsed, yet Godfrey could recall nothing of the intervening period. Upon inspection, he discovered his boot was severely split down one side and his foot was raw and sore, though he had no memory of how this injury occurred.

Official Context

Godfrey learned that three other police officers had independently observed unusual lights in the Todmorden area that same night, lending corroboration to atmospheric phenomena in the vicinity. Godfrey decided to file an official police report despite anticipating ridicule.

Hypnotic Regression

Eight months later, in July 1981, Godfrey agreed to undergo hypnotic regression with a Manchester psychiatrist. Under hypnosis, he recalled boarding the craft and being examined by humanoid figures: small beings with beards and a tall bearded man who telepathically identified himself as "Yosef" and wore clothing described as Biblical in nature. He claimed to have undergone a medical-like examination, though he retained no sensory memory of pain or discomfort. Notably, Godfrey himself expressed uncertainty about the hypnotic recall, stating he could not determine whether the memories represented reality, dream, fantasy, or a combination thereof.

The Zigmund Adamski Connection

The Todmorden area had become a focal point for unusual deaths and disappearances. Five months before Godfrey's sighting (May 1980), a local miner named Zigmund Adamski, a 57-year-old Polish immigrant, had vanished. His body was discovered 20 miles from his home, lying atop a pile of anthracite coal. Godfrey and another officer were the first police to attend the scene. Adamski's head had been shaved, and his neck bore a ring of burn marks with a yellow-green slimy substance seeping from a wound—details that fueled speculation about a possible connection to UFO activity, though no conclusive link was ever established.

Career Impact and Legacy

Godfrey's report generated significant local attention and, he claimed, ridicule and ostracism from colleagues and the police hierarchy. He alleged that he was hounded out of the force for refusing to recant his account. The incident took a severe personal toll on his family and career. Despite the skepticism, the case remains one of Britain's most prominent UFO encounters and was the first documented alien abduction claim in the United Kingdom. Godfrey continued to discuss the incident publicly and in 2017, after 37 years, released a detailed account of his experience.