Jump to content
Join the Unexplained Mysteries community today! It's free and setting up an account only takes a moment.
- Sign In or Create Account -

Man spontaneously combusts and lives


Still Waters

Recommended Posts

Frank Baker faced death while earning two Purple Hearts in Vietnam, but the scariest moment of his life came in June 1995.

Baker was in his home in Vermont, when he suddenly burst into flames, an experience he discusses for the first time on "The Unexplained Files,"airing Oct. 2 on the Science Channel.

http://www.huffingto..._ref=weird-news

Video -

http://science.disco...explained-files

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Alcohol :)

he said me and my buddy were having a "hell of a good time" the first time it happened, then they were fishing the second. Traditional drinking time :).

They both have characteristics of alcoholics.

Its my thought that he probably did something while drunk, or if human combustion is real, it's the only highly flammable substance that I know of that can permeate someone's blood stream.

Edited by White Crane Feather
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 months later...

Spontaneous Human Combustion is, in my opinion, a legitimate phenomenon. I speculate that it has something to do with phospherous in the diet, that becomes oxygenated somehow. There are a couple other testimonies of people who have experienced preliminaries to the phenomenon.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No.

There is absolutely no evidence that spontaneous human combustion is possible.

And several reasons why it can't.

And sever explanations and repeatable experiments that mimic the results of "spontaneous" combustion.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No.

There is absolutely no evidence that spontaneous human combustion is possible.

And several reasons why it can't.

And sever explanations and repeatable experiments that mimic the results of "spontaneous" combustion.

Any evidence God is possible?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I speculate that it has something to do with phospherous in the diet, that becomes oxygenated somehow. There are a couple other testimonies of people who have experienced preliminaries to the phenomenon.

And I´m sure that the other people are exercising the same kind of diet as the 2 trustable guys in the vid. Means, 1-2 liter of schnapps

per day.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Any evidence God is possible?

No.

That is why I BELIEVE in GOD and that BELIEF requires FAITH.

I have lots of FAITH in God, but no evidence.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

No.

That is why I BELIEVE in GOD and that BELIEF requires FAITH.

I have lots of FAITH in God, but no evidence.

Exactly!

My husband's from Ra-Cha. Nice to see someone from my neck of the woods.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Any evidence God is possible?

What does the supernatural have to do with this topic? Nothing.

There is no evidence that spontaneous human combustion occurs. It is possible for a body to be burned in a manner consistent with what is mislabeled as SHC. It involves an externally initiated burn.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's called the wick effect

wick effect: the name given to the partial destruction of a human body by fire, when the clothing of the victim soaks up melted human fat and acts like the wick of a candle.

Shounds nice dosen't it?

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

No.

That is why I BELIEVE in GOD and that BELIEF requires FAITH.

I have lots of FAITH in God, but no evidence.

Belief requires faith? I thought you said belief requires evidence.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's called the wick effect

wick effect: the name given to the partial destruction of a human body by fire, when the clothing of the victim soaks up melted human fat and acts like the wick of a candle.

Shounds nice dosen't it?

"Wick effect" does not (according to Fire professionals, or the doctor's examining this patient) account for the kind of burning seen.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What does the supernatural have to do with this topic? Nothing.

There is no evidence that spontaneous human combustion occurs. It is possible for a body to be burned in a manner consistent with what is mislabeled as SHC. It involves an externally initiated burn.

Yet the doctor is quoted as saying, "the burning came from the inside, out".

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There are several well documented cases of SOMETHING happening to those we call victims of Spontaneous Human Combustion. The evidence is inexplicable to all serious investigators. For human bones to be reduced to ashes requires a very high temperature. Yet in the presence of this extreme heat, nearby curtains and/or papers are not even singed. Perfectly normal, yes?

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Belief requires faith? I thought you said belief requires evidence.

Belief doesn't require any evidence at all.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

"Wick effect" does not (according to Fire professionals, or the doctor's examining this patient) account for the kind of burning seen.

That is false. It does.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There are several well documented cases of SOMETHING happening to those we call victims of Spontaneous Human Combustion. The evidence is inexplicable to all serious investigators. For human bones to be reduced to ashes requires a very high temperature. Yet in the presence of this extreme heat, nearby curtains and/or papers are not even singed. Perfectly normal, yes?

Experimentation and the observation of a body on fire has shown that the wick effect is the cause. There are pretend investigators that claim all sorts of odd things. They are seen on any of a number of mockumentaries to beguile the gullible. It has been shown that bones can be reduced to ashes without a high temperature. Mockumentarians deny this, but they do not perform experiments since they are not serious investigators.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Brian Dunning did a review of SHC in a past episode of Skeptoid. Podcast and transcript at the link:

http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4258

Spontaneous Human Combustion

People can catch on fire... but can it really happen when there is no external source of ignition?

Mr. Dunning breaks down SHC into two "kinds". The first is what most people think of when they think of SHC - remains burned to ashes, generally little fire damage to surrounding areas, etc. - and this has been pretty thoroughly explained through the wick effect. The second is where a human being just suddenly bursts into flames. What most people don't realize is that there are only TWO recorded instances of this happening. If what Mr. Baker is saying is accurate, then he would be the third. Here is Mr. Duning's take on the second kind of SHC:

Spontaneous Human Combustion of the Second Kind is when the event is witnessed and we have accounts of what took place. These accounts are quite different than those of the First Kind. Slow, smoldering fires are never the case; they are always a large sudden ignition with active flames. When the victims survive, the burns (which can be serious) are on the skin, never the deep, complete reduction to ashes seen in the First Kind.

  • In London in 1982, Jeannie Saffin, a severely mentally handicapped elderly woman, was sitting at a table with family when her upper torso suddenly caught on fire. They extinguished the flames and paramedics took her to a burn unit, where she died eight days later of lung damage from inhaling the fire.
  • In 1938, also in London, 22-year-old Phyllis Newcombe's dress suddenly caught on fire as she was going downstairs at a dance. Other revelers extinguished the flames but she, too, died at the hospital from her burns.

People catching on fire is not especially uncommon. It happens all the time. The only thing differentiating the cases classified as SHC is that no source of ignition was found; the fires are said to have been spontaneous. Other than that, there's nothing especially remarkable about them. The fires burned in a familiar manner, and the injuries are what would be expected. But these cases of the Second Kind are also rare; probably more rare than the First Kind. The reason is that these are unsolved, whereas the First Kind cases are generally solved, at least to the satisfaction of the investigators. These two cases of the Second Kind are famous only because there was no source of ignition found. No cigarettes, open flames, or sparks were found near either Jeannie Saffin or Phyllis Newcombe; but it's not scientifically permissible to conclude that their combustions were spontaneous. Maybe they were; but just because we didn't find the cause hardly means that there wasn't one.

I don't for a minute buy the doctor's statement that Mr. Baker burned from the inside out. I think this episode is much better explained by two guys were drinking and one didn't realize he set himself on fire.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

From Wikipedia-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spontaneous_human_combustion

"The "wick effect" hypothesis suggests that a small external flame source, such as a burning cigarette, chars the clothing of the victim at a location, splitting the skin and releasing subcutaneous fat, which is in turn absorbed into the burned clothing, acting as a wick. This combustion can continue for as long as the fuel is available. This hypothesis has been successfully tested with animal tissue (pig) and is consistent with evidence recovered from cases of human combustion.[14][15] The human body typically has enough stored energy in fat and other chemical stores to fully combust the body; even lean people have several pounds of fat in their tissues. This fat, once heated by the burning clothing, wicks into the clothing much as candle wax (which typically was originally made of animal fat) wicks into a lit candle wick to provide the fuel needed to keep the wick burning.[16] The protein in the body also burns, but provides less energy than fat, with the water in the body being the main impediment to combustion. However, slow combustion, lasting hours, gives the water time to evaporate slowly, which require less energy than boiling the water off quickly would. In an enclosed area, such as a house, this moisture will recondense nearby, such as on windows.[citation needed] Note that feet often have the least fat, so don't typically burn."

The article also mentions that ketosis is considered a suspect in spontaneous combustion. I may have to reconsider my low-carb diet.

Edited by simplybill
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Jeannie Saffin case is especially interesting. What are we to make of the eyewitness report that fire was extruding from her mouth to a distance of 2 feet? In the Paul Haggerty case, items in his refrigerator, in another room, were affected by the extreme heat, yet inflammable materials right next to him didn't ignite. Of course, for timid souls, there's always a way to "explain away" these factors. The vaunted "wick effect" doesn't explain much. We don't see this happening in average fire fatalities, why? Spontaneous Human Combustion? Fact!

http://youtu.be/8RESUDoOArI

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Jeannie Saffin case is especially interesting. What are we to make of the eyewitness report that fire was extruding from her mouth to a distance of 2 feet? In the Paul Haggerty case, items in his refrigerator, in another room, were affected by the extreme heat, yet inflammable materials right next to him didn't ignite. Of course, for timid souls, there's always a way to "explain away" these factors. The vaunted "wick effect" doesn't explain much. We don't see this happening in average fire fatalities, why? Spontaneous Human Combustion? Fact!

Your hand waving here is of little use. For those without the ability to consider the evidence there is always a need to invoke something magical such as you've done here.

Why don't we see this happening in "average fire fatalities"? See post #19.

Edited by stereologist
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Brian Dunning did a review of SHC in a past episode of Skeptoid. Podcast and transcript at the link:

http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4258

Spontaneous Human Combustion

People can catch on fire... but can it really happen when there is no external source of ignition?

Mr. Dunning breaks down SHC into two "kinds". The first is what most people think of when they think of SHC - remains burned to ashes, generally little fire damage to surrounding areas, etc. - and this has been pretty thoroughly explained through the wick effect. The second is where a human being just suddenly bursts into flames. What most people don't realize is that there are only TWO recorded instances of this happening. If what Mr. Baker is saying is accurate, then he would be the third. Here is Mr. Duning's take on the second kind of SHC:

Spontaneous Human Combustion of the Second Kind is when the event is witnessed and we have accounts of what took place. These accounts are quite different than those of the First Kind. Slow, smoldering fires are never the case; they are always a large sudden ignition with active flames. When the victims survive, the burns (which can be serious) are on the skin, never the deep, complete reduction to ashes seen in the First Kind.

  • In London in 1982, Jeannie Saffin, a severely mentally handicapped elderly woman, was sitting at a table with family when her upper torso suddenly caught on fire. They extinguished the flames and paramedics took her to a burn unit, where she died eight days later of lung damage from inhaling the fire.
  • In 1938, also in London, 22-year-old Phyllis Newcombe's dress suddenly caught on fire as she was going downstairs at a dance. Other revelers extinguished the flames but she, too, died at the hospital from her burns.

People catching on fire is not especially uncommon. It happens all the time. The only thing differentiating the cases classified as SHC is that no source of ignition was found; the fires are said to have been spontaneous. Other than that, there's nothing especially remarkable about them. The fires burned in a familiar manner, and the injuries are what would be expected. But these cases of the Second Kind are also rare; probably more rare than the First Kind. The reason is that these are unsolved, whereas the First Kind cases are generally solved, at least to the satisfaction of the investigators. These two cases of the Second Kind are famous only because there was no source of ignition found. No cigarettes, open flames, or sparks were found near either Jeannie Saffin or Phyllis Newcombe; but it's not scientifically permissible to conclude that their combustions were spontaneous. Maybe they were; but just because we didn't find the cause hardly means that there wasn't one.

I don't for a minute buy the doctor's statement that Mr. Baker burned from the inside out. I think this episode is much better explained by two guys were drinking and one didn't realize he set himself on fire.

"Maybe they WERE"... righto!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Your hand waving here is of little use. For those without the ability to consider the evidence there is always a need to invoke something magical such as you've done here.

Why don't we see this happening in "average fire fatalities"? See post #19.

Not "magical"... just something we don't understand. Unexplained.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.