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Spontaneous Human combustion Fact or Fiction?

I have seen documentary films on this subject and I think the jury is still out on the conclusion.

  • 25 votes
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  • 9 votes
azzow2 9 Apr 17
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32 comments

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1

I tend to believe it happens; extremely rarely, but spontaneous combustion is an absolutely real thing.

I could see where it might have happened when people would wear heavy amounts of cologne and perfume that were made of whale fats and oils long ago in the past before bathing became popular. I can`t buy the spontaneous part though.

@azzow2 it happens in piles of oily rags, no question. People have fat in them that is combustible. Just sayin,'

@Condor5 linseed oil and cotton rags has been known to spontaneously combust:
[naturalhandyman.com]
chemical explanation:
[tcforensic.com.au]
but this phenomenon is not comparable to a human body considering the amount of water in tissue (even in fat tissue).

@Lukian, "The most recent reported case of apparent SHC occurred in the early afternoon of 17 September 2017 in Tottenham, north London. Passers-by watched in horror as a 70-year-old pensioner, John Nolan of County Mayo in Ireland, appeared to spontaneously burst into flames while walking in the street. Some people tried to help him at the scene but he died in hospital the next day from his burns. Investigators were unable to establish a reason for this incident and his death was treated as unexplained. His post-mortem gave the cause of death as severe burns and an inquest was called to further examine the circumstances of his death." From Wikipedia.

Maybe it wasn't the fat, but...

@Condor5 That one is actually a very interesting incident - it was widely reported in the UK and Ireland at the time and is especially notable due to the subsequent investigation's inability to find an accelerant or cause, and for the eyewitnesses who said there was nobody near Nolan when he burst into flame. While I doubt very much that spontaneous human combustion is a real phenomenon, this case leaves much to be answered.

[news.met.police.uk]
[telegraph.co.uk]
[independent.co.uk]

@Condor5 I hope you understood I was pointing out that oily rags do not equal human combustion? If oily rags was the cause of someone catching on fire it would not be called Spontaneous <human> combustion.

Because the cause of a single case remains unknown does not mean it's SHC either.

I Like this argument:
And if some natural (but unknown) mechanism causes the combustion, why would it only occur in humans? Why wouldn't cows, dogs, elephants, birds or other animals suddenly, randomly and inexplicably explode in a ball of flames now and then? Even if the phenomenon is incredibly rare, with billions of animals on the planet, statistically we should expect to see thousands of them exploding every day all around us.
source: [livescience.com]

Nowadays, I wonder how come we don't have more people combusting considering the batteries overheat and sometimes explode?

Still, except for that particular case that remains unsolved (I'll grant that), a source of ignition is commonly found in all other SHC cases.

@Lukian yes, I fully understand, my friend, but I'm also having a bit of fun here, too.

7

If stress and anxiety caused it I would have exploded already. ? (or so I've been told).

6

I believe virtually everything I read, and I think that is what makes me more of a selective human than someone who doesn't believe anything.
I saw this documentary:.

MikaB Level 5 Apr 17, 2018

I love that....ahem... "documentary."

@JimG 11

4

It's never spontaneous, there has to be an external heat source.

However have known somebody who had their belly hair catch on fire when the were sharpening shearing combs with an angle grinder, bad enough burns to go to the hospital for treatment. That's a really hard one to live down.

Kimba Level 7 Apr 18, 2018
4

It's a mythi saw a programme years ago providing evidence into what actually happens . What they found is that it's to do with what the person is wearing and how much fat they had on their body . They wrapped a large pig in wool and let a spark ignite the wool , the wool then slowly burnt this mixed with the fat of the body meant that the heat produced was high but with little or no flames . This then explained how the fire did not spread but still melted any plastic that was near . So basically don't fall asleep in woollen clothing whilst smoking a cigarette !!

That saved me saying it. It's all bollocks, need the fire triangle to be in place. Ignition, fuel and O2.

4

Just check my ex. She always blows up.

godef Level 7 Apr 17, 2018
4

It's the same thing that makes atheists burst into flames in churches

3

How fucking cool would it be if people could just burst into flames? Ha! Driving down the highway, you look over to the car to your side and poof, the human just ignites and wrecks. Sitting at the table, the waiter asks for your order, turns to submit the order to the kitchen, and starts to burn. Can I get another waiter, please?
Funny how that never happens.

3

It all depends on an individuals definition of , "Spontaneous Human Combustion", is. Can an living organism burn without causing near by objects to burn also, Yes. Can a living organism for no reason just burn, Improbable.

3

Has it ever happened to animals? There should be plenty of examples, or a good reason why there are none!

Ungod Level 6 Apr 18, 2018

@StarvinMarvin
The military would be interested in that.

@StarvinMarvin
The military would be interested in that.

3

There is a scientific reasoning associated to this. The stomach uses phosphate in conjunction with other chemicals to digest your food. The left over phophate burns when combined with air. So the body expels it through flatulence which is why sometimes when you fart or burp the gas burns. Especially when you have eaten spicy peppers and foods. However, when a person is constipated they can't expel the gas as easily and it begins to build up inside you. And if a person has been constipated for an extended amount of time the gas eventually forces it's self out in a burp and if enough of the gas is present when it combines with the air it ignites and causes just enough flame to go down into the body where more gas is and that gas also ignites causing the person to burn from the inside out. That is also why the legs or feet are usually left because the gas burns upward through the body and the legs and feet have a very low, if any amount, of the gas inside them. I have read several documents and papers on this and this seems to be the most accepted reasoning behind the occurrence.

3

Until I see it, I don't believe it.

ebdb Level 7 Apr 17, 2018
3

Common occurence in my family, but that's because they're dumbasses sometimes lol.

or vampires careless with sunlight?

My mom is married to this dumbass his entire family including my 2 half sisters if dumb can be done they find a way to make it even more dumbass.

3

You know... I've heard this since I was a kid. I ain't got a clue about the truth in it.

3

I've seen experiments showing how this happens using dead pigs. it always involves a heat source like a gas fire and the heat though very hot is unusually very localised. it often leaves parts of the actual corps completely free of the heat and everything around it. it is the heat from said gas fire acting on human fat like a wick of a candle. it's always a person who has been missing a good while as this intense burning takes a long time to achieve. if you think about it, you never see people just combust on there own in the street or with witnesses and you would with 7 billion plus people.

To say nothing of the number of video cameras watching.

2

Aha!! I had an Elvis epiphany!

When you listen to these lyrics, it is obvious that he was trying to tell us something. The story about Elvis dying while sitting on the toilet is a load of CRAP.

He was so full of burnin' love, he self-immolated.

So too much love is the answer to self-immolation, so be very, very careful when handling this and other dating apps.

Even the late great Johnny Cash succumbed to a self-generated "Ring of Fire."

2

I am powered by a reduction–oxidation reaction. If I do not continue to consume fuel, I will waste away.

2

It’s awful hot in ?

2

Look at all the evidence and suggestions!

[google.com]

2

Nope. And the jury has been in for quite a while.
Slow burn/smoldering from standard sources, cigarette/cigar mostly.

How can something smolder that is soaking wet? The entire chemical make-up of water would have to change.

2

I don't have enough evidence to formulate even a wild-ass guess.

Gohan Level 7 Apr 17, 2018
2

No conclusive evidence has ever been presented to determine if such could ever occur.

Correct if such a process would happen would be like a magnesium fire to boot the water in the tissue would extinguish the burning process.

2

I don't know. But I'd like it to be true.

Deb57 Level 8 Apr 17, 2018

Hmmm, maybe you have someone in mind who you would like to see spontaneously combust? ???

@PappyOnWings The Monsanto corporation for example.

2

Considering the amount of water in the human body, no effing way. 😛

I know burning water not in this atmosphere anyway.

2

A myth based on limited knowledge of actual events. If there were a truly benevolent god, it would be real and common.

JimG Level 8 Apr 17, 2018
2

The phenomenon was explained a few years ago, nothing mystic. There was a documentary where they recreated a 'spontaneous combustion' using a dead pig wrapped in a carpet or blanket (which acts like a wick of a candle). The fire was started by simulating a cigarette falling on to the material, which smouldered and ended up burning like an inside out candle, so the heat was contained inside. The result was very little of the pig carcass remained, just a trotter or two.
So, someone falling asleep with a cigarette could set themselves on fire this way, with little of them remaining and very little fire damage to their environment.
Conclusion - a normal event not paranormal. 🙂

What about the nonsmokers this information could confuse them.

(Edit This is a different documentary to the one I saw, but it says the same thing) It was an old documentary so the video quality is not great, but the facts are.

@azzow2 that was an example, they are other sources of ignition, electric fires, etc., possibly the person may have already died of a heart attack or something, or they were drunk, etc

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