Obscure Occurrences : The Mysterious Case of Zigmund Adamski || An Alien Abductee?

 In the year 1960, a 37-year-old Polish coal miner named Zigmund Adamski relocated to Tingley, a small village in West Yorkshire, with his wife Lottie. Soon after arriving, the lovable couple made new friends and settled into the small-town life of rural England. To anyone who knew them, they were a perfectly happy couple who never got into any confrontation with others. Thus, it comes as no surprise that Zigmund’s sudden disappearance was utterly unexpected.

Zigmund Adamski (Source: Yorkshire Live)

Disappearance

 On the warm afternoon of June 6^th 1980, 56-year-old Zigmund left his home, on foot, to buy some groceries from the local store. As soon as he got out of his house, he engaged in a friendly conversation with a neighbour before commencing his mile-long journey into the town. Unbeknownst to his neighbour, the goodhearted man was heading towards his disappearance and subsequent death.

 For a majority of the following week, until the discovery of his body, it appeared as if Zigmund had vanished without leaving behind a trace. Even today, his whereabouts during the period of his disappearance remain shrouded in obscurity.

Death

 On June 11^th 1980, Zigmund’s body was discovered in a coal yard at Todmorden, a town more than 20 miles away from where he lived. When Trevor Parker, the coal yard owner’s son, had opened the compound gates at 3:45 pm in preparation for the afternoon shift, he spotted Zigmund’s body lying on top of a 10-foot-tall coal pile. He had immediately informed the police before a constable under the name of Alan Godfrey arrived at the scene.

Trevor Parker (Source: Yorkshire Live)

 When questioned by the police, Trevor claimed that the body was not present in the yard when he had been there earlier that day. He had also locked the gates before leaving and no one, to his knowledge, had visited the place since then.

Investigation

 Soon afterwards, Godfrey called for a group of paramedics who, upon arriving, quickly declared the reason behind Zigmund’s death to be a cardiac arrest. However, upon closer examination, the investigating authorities began suspecting foul play due to the strangeness of the circumstances. First of all, second-degree burn marks were found on the back of his neck and shoulders. The fire injuries were covered in a gel-like substance which indicated that someone had tried to treat them while he was still alive. Furthermore, the appearance of his body was not in line with death by natural causes.

 To add to the oddity, it appeared as if Zigmund had been clumsily redressed after his death by a person who was not quite familiar with the process. He was wearing a coat which had been buttoned up the wrong way. His trousers and belt had not been fastened properly and his shoes remained untied. Also, the shirt he had been wearing on the day of his disappearance was missing along with his wallet and watch. Despite all the clumsiness, the clothes on his body were in good condition which ruled out the possibility of him having been out in the open during the previous five days.

 In addition, his body was so clean that it appeared as if he had just stepped out of the shower. There was no coal dust on his bare skin or clothes and he showed only one day’s growth of facial hair. These findings ruled out the possibility of  Zigmund having climbed the coal pile by himself before succumbing to a cardiac arrest. Most perplexing of all the findings was the fact that neither footprints nor any signs of disturbance were found on the coal pile itself. By all accounts, it seemed as if Zigmund’s body had literally been dropped on top of the pile from above.

 Godfrey noted that Zigmund’s face displayed a sense of extreme fear which was later confirmed by the coroner as well. In line with the coroner’s report, the man “must have known great fear or pain” during the time of his death.

 During the autopsy, it was discovered that Zigmund must have died somewhere between the hours of 11:00 am and 1:00 pm on the same day his body had been found. It was discovered that he had been well-fed during the period of his disappearance excluding the day of his death. The burn marks on his body had been made only two days prior to his death and the gel-like substance found on the fire injuries couldn’t be identified. Also, there were no records of him having visited a local hospital for any such treatment.

Theory of Alien Abduction

 The obscurities around Zigmund’s unforeseen disappearance and subsequent death gave rise to many speculations, with the most popular one being the possibility of alien abduction. Many believe that he was abducted by extraterrestrials on his way to the grocery store. This claim was further borne out due to the involvement of Constable Godfrey who would himself encounter an incident with alleged extra-terrestrial involvement.

Alan Godfrey's Encounter

 In November of 1980, six months after Adamski’s body had been discovered, Godfrey was sent to investigate bizarre reports about a herd of cows that had been disappearing and reappearing all over a local council estate.

 While driving down Burnley Road towards the location of the last apparent sighting, he found what appeared to be an “overturned double-decker bus”, about 200 meters ahead of him. Thinking that a terrible accident had occurred, he slowed down to observe the scene but, on closer inspection, he understood that it was not a bus but a strange aircraft hovering five feet off the ground. He tried calling for backup but his radio had allegedly stopped working.

 Unsure about his next moves, he noted the time and began drawing the object which took him a little upwards of 30 seconds to complete. When he lifted up his head after the completion of his sketch, he discovered that the strange aircraft had mysteriously vanished. Investigating the scene for other signs, he suddenly realized that the distance between him and his car had magically increased. Upon checking his watch, he understood that what appeared to be one minute for him was originally almost half an hour, a time difference he couldn’t account for. He also discovered that the soles of his police boots were split at the toe as if he had been dragged along the ground.

 Soon afterwards, he returned to the police station and asked a couple of his colleagues to help him find the missing cattle. The cows were eventually found in a rain-soaked field whose only entrance was a large locked gate. With no hoof prints near the opening, it appeared as if they had apparently been dropped there.

 The report of Godfrey’s encounter with the UFO was somehow leaked to the press which eventually resulted in him getting pushed out of the police force. Recounting the case of Zigmund Adamski a few years later, he declared that it was the strangest case assigned to him. He also claimed that extra-terrestrials could have abducted Zigmund before placing his lifeless body on the top of the coal pile.

Alan Godfrey (Source: Yorkshire Live)

 However, the possible involvement of UFOs falls apart when Zigmund’s missing shirt, wallet and watch are taken into consideration. This point in itself leads many to believe that his disappearance has earthly reasoning.

Theory of Kidnap and Murder

 Around 25 years after the discovery of Zigmund’s body, investigators of the British UFO Research Association (BUFORA) interviewed members of Zigmund’s family. The interview helped them understand that Zigmund had not been particularly interested in attending his god-daughter’s wedding which was scheduled for the next day. There had allegedly been a family feud during this period and a female relative had moved into the Adamski household. This relative had taken a restraining order on her husband. As a result, the couple were not on good terms. 

 The newly found information made the BUFORA conclude that Zigmund had actually been kidnapped by the female relative’s husband. In line with their statement, he must have been held in a hidden shed where the husband had apparently tortured him until his death.

 Although this seems to be a plausible explanation, it leaves behind more questions than answers. Firstly, by all accounts, Zigmund took a neutral stand in all the family feuds and this leaves behind no motive for the kidnap. Furthermore, the “sense of terror” on his dead face cannot be accounted for by this theory. To add on, this theory cannot explain the inexplicability of the gel-like substance found on the fire wounds on his body. Finally, this theory offers no explanation for the lack of footprints or disturbance in the coal pile on which his body was found. Also, the fact that no one was ever arrested or charged over the alleged kidnapping, makes this theory a lot more inconclusive.

Conclusion

 Although the possibility of kidnap seems to be a more plausible explanation, the inconclusiveness of the proposed theories suggests that there is more to this mystery than meets the eye. There could be a hundred more reasons why Zigmund Adamski suddenly disappeared but until a conclusive explanation could be formulated, which seems highly unlikely, this case will remain in the pages of history as yet another unsolved mystery.