Zigmund Adamski

Status:

Open

Jurisdiction:

West Yorkshire (POLICE)

Death Location:

Tingley, West Yorkshire

Summary:

Zigmund Adamski was a 56-year-old Polish-born coal miner who disappeared on June 6, 1980, while on a shopping trip from his home in Tingley, West Yorkshire, England. His body was found five days later on June 11, 1980, atop a 10-foot pile of coal in Todmorden, over 20 miles away from his home, under mysterious circumstances. The coroner ruled his death a heart attack, but the case remains unsolved with numerous unanswered questions about where he spent the missing five days and how his body came to be placed on the coal pile.

Vital Statistics

Circumstances of Death:

On Friday, June 6, 1980, at approximately 3:30 p.m., Zigmund Adamski left his home on Thornfield Crescent in Tingley to purchase potatoes and groceries for a family wedding scheduled for the next day. He briefly greeted an old neighbor en route to the local shop. After making his purchases and paying, he left the shop and was never seen alive again. His wife, Leokadia (Lottie), became worried when he failed to return that evening and contacted police, initiating a five-day search. On the afternoon of Wednesday, June 11, 1980, at 3:45 p.m., Trevor Parker, the son of the owner of Tomlin's coal yard in Todmorden, discovered Adamski's body resting in a hollow atop a 10-foot pile of coal. Parker had visited the yard that morning at 8:00 a.m. and confirmed the body was not present at that time. The coal yard had not been used since 11:00 a.m. At 4:10 p.m., Police Constable Alan Godfrey and a colleague attended the scene. Adamski's death was determined to have occurred between 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. on June 11.

Additional Details:

At the scene, several anomalies were observed. Adamski's body was found lying on its back atop the coal pile with minimal coal dust on his clean suit despite its sooty surroundings, leading investigators to conclude he had been placed there rather than climbing up himself. His shirt was missing, as were his watch and wallet—none of which were ever recovered. His trousers appeared improperly fastened. He had only one day's growth of beard despite being missing for five days, indicating he had been staying somewhere with access to grooming facilities. His hair had been roughly cut. Unusual oval-shaped burn marks were found on his head, neck, and shoulders, appearing to be two days old and treated with a peculiar unidentified ointment or gel substance that forensic scientists at the State Forensic Laboratory in Wetherby could not identify. The coroner, James Turnbull, conducted the inquest and ruled the cause of death as a heart attack due to heart and chest disease, though he admitted it was the strangest case of his career. Death was not registered until autumn of 1980. Adamski had a history of heart complaints and chronic bronchitis but had never previously suffered a heart attack. He had been in the process of seeking early retirement from Lofthouse Colliery due to his declining health and his wife's multiple sclerosis, confining her to a wheelchair. Ironically, his early retirement application was approved by the Coal Board shortly after his disappearance. In 2005, British UFO investigators John Hanson and David Sankey of BUFORA conducted a reinvestigation, interviewing Adamski's relatives. They discovered that despite being reported as looking forward to the wedding, Adamski was actually involved in a family feud with a relative whose wife had obtained a restraining order against him and had moved in with the Adamski couple. Hanson and Sankey reported that the family suspected this relative had kidnapped Zigmund and held him in a shed where he suffered the fatal heart attack. Five months after discovering Adamski's body, Police Constable Alan Godfrey, the officer who responded to the scene, reported his own UFO encounter on November 28, 1980, on Burnley Road in Todmorden, approximately one mile from the coal yard. Godfrey claimed to have lost fifteen minutes of time and, under hypnosis conducted through Manchester-based MUFORA in 1981, alleged he had been abducted aboard the craft and given a physical examination by non-human entities. This incident, known as the Todmorden UFO incident, was published by the Sunday Mirror on September 27, 1981, linking both Adamski's death and Godfrey's encounter to speculation about extraterrestrial involvement. Theories about Adamski's death have ranged from foul play and kidnapping to ball lightning strikes, KGB involvement, and alien abduction. The exact circumstances of his disappearance and the location where he spent the five days before his death remain officially unsolved.

Case Last Updated:

Aug 03, 2026