Happy Valley: The story of the Todmorden UFO sighting mentioned in Sally Wainwright's BBC drama

The BBC drama, written by Sally Wainwright, frequently mentions places and streets across Calderdale.

But in the most recent episode, Catherine Cawood (played by Sarah Lancashire) told a story about a police officer who had a UFO sighting back in 1980 after taking part in a prank on one of her colleagues.

While trying to get paperwork done in her office, Catherine’s colleague asked: “So who started this about an alien liaison office?”

Catherine replied: “Oh Gorkem saw a strange light moving in an erratic manner over Erringden Moor at 5am yesterday morning.”

She continued: “So he started googling stuff and found out about that bobby in Todmorden in 1980. He thinks he’s been abducted by aliens.”

The story was referencing police officer Alan Godfrey who claims that he was abducted by aliens after a UFO sighting.

What is Alan’s story?

Police officer Alan Godfrey was on routine patrol in Todmorden in November 1980.

He had been called out to Ashenhurst and was driving along Burnley Road.

Ahead was a bright light.

He stopped the car. Blinked once – and blinked again.

What stood before him, he says, was a metallic disc with a dome and a row of windows.

He began sketching what he saw in his notebook.

Suddenly, there was a burst of light and he found himself 100 yards farther down the road. The UFO was gone.

Later, under hypnosis, he recalled being struck by a beam of light which floated him into the craft.

There, he says, he met a human-like being named Joseph, whose clothing was Biblical.

Alan says that inside the spaceship he was physically examined and asked questions.

He said what he had first seen was a diamond-shaped UFO, hovering about five feet above the ground in Burnley Road before disappearing.

PC Godfrey said he realised he had suffered “missing time.”

At the hypnosis session, he described being enveloped in an intense white light.

He recalled lying on a table, surrounded by small figures with bulb-like heads.

That was one of several sightings that made Todmorden become well-known as a supernatural hot-spot.