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Spontaneous Human Combustion


Ravenharp

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I believe in both science and the paranormal. I first came across SHC (not literally) when I was in high school and there were people who were puzzled by it and came up with natural explanations, some I agree on more so than others though I believe there are cases where 'natural' explanations just don't cut it.

 

1. Excessive alcohol

More than 0.4%~ of ethanol in the blood stream is pretty much immediately fatal. Meanwhile, the LEL (Lower Explosive Limit) for pure ethanol is 3.3%~. Conclusion: a person would be dead long before they were somehow producing explosive vapors of ethanol from their skin.

2. Chemical reaction/metabolic cause

Human enzymes, which run the chemical processes in the body, are especially sensitive to even 'dilute' concentrations of reactive compounds. There is also no oxygen within the body, which is approx. 60% water, by weight, and metabolic processes cease at around 50 degrees C.

3. Fainting while smoking/dropping a cigarette

This probably applies to some cases, although there are cases such as that of Henry Thomas who was a non-smoker, there are also cases of victims being seen to burst into flames, and cases where the body was consumed to the bone in minutes, much too fast to apply to the ''wick effect'' explanation. This would mean that whatever caused the fire that immolated the person, was a much hotter fire than what a crematorium or chemical accelerant could produce.

 

In some of these cases where cases were witnessed, or survived, the victim reportedly did not feel pain and was in ''a trance''.

http://malcolmsanomalies.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/flames-roaring-out-of-her-mouth.html

Quote

Wilfred Gowthorpe. Aged 71 and described as "basically a lonely man", Mr Gowthorpe had been decorating the house of Mike and Sandra Stubbins. Mrs Stubbins left the kitchen for about half an hour, only to return and find the paste bucket and brush in the sink, the cold water tap running, and Mr Gowthorpe in a corner, apparently in a trance. Thinking he had suffered a stroke, she called a doctor, and her husband. The doctor immediately noticed that his left hand and arm were burned up to the elbow, and immediately had him rushed to hospital. Two fingers were charred so severely that they required amputation.
     The surprising thing was that his thumb was all right. Also, his left sleeve was still buttoned up to the wrist. Also, although it was a cold day, Mr Gowthorpe was soaked in sweat, and his clothes were also wet, except for the left sleeve of both coat and shirt. There was not a single thing in the kitchen which could have been responsible. Not only that, but up to the time he died from a heart attack eighteen months later, the victim failed to remember a single thing about the accident.

 

Edited by Ravenharp
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20 minutes ago, Ravenharp said:

I believe in both science and the paranormal. I first came across SHC (not literally) when I was in high school and there were people who were puzzled by it and came up with natural explanations, some I agree on more so than others though I believe there are cases where 'natural' explanations just don't cut it.

 

1. Excessive alcohol

More than 0.4%~ of ethanol in the blood stream is pretty much immediately fatal. Meanwhile, the LEL (Lower Explosive Limit) for pure ethanol is 3.3%~. Conclusion: a person would be dead long before they were somehow producing explosive vapors of ethanol from their skin.

2. Chemical reaction/metabolic cause

Human enzymes, which run the chemical processes in the body, are especially sensitive to even 'dilute' concentrations of reactive compounds. There is also no oxygen within the body, which is approx. 60% water, by weight, and metabolic processes cease at around 50 degrees C.

3. Fainting while smoking/dropping a cigarette

This probably applies to some cases, although there are cases such as that of Henry Thomas who was a non-smoker, there are also cases of victims being seen to burst into flames, and cases where the body was consumed to the bone in minutes, much too fast to apply to the ''wick effect'' explanation. This would mean that whatever caused the fire that immolated the person, was a much hotter fire than what a crematorium or chemical accelerant could produce.

 

In some of these cases where cases were witnessed, or survived, the victim reportedly did not feel pain and was in ''a trance''.

http://malcolmsanomalies.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/flames-roaring-out-of-her-mouth.html

 

There's a scientific explanation for everything even though we don't currently know how to explain everything. I have absolutely zero belief in anything paranormal or supernatural and it's not a catch-all for everything unexplained.

I've read stories before about this happening but witnessing it is rare and the explanations I have heard generally involve slow burning of the fat in the human body started by a cigarette although that's not always the case. 

This needs more scientific study but this is a rare phenomenon......

link with a few stories

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4 minutes ago, Euphorbia said:

There's a scientific explanation for everything even though we don't currently know how to explain everything. I have absolutely zero belief in anything paranormal or supernatural and it's not a catch-all for everything unexplained.

I've read stories before about this happening but witnessing it is rare and the explanations I have heard generally involve slow burning of the fat in the human body started by a cigarette although that's not always the case. 

This needs more scientific study but this is a rare phenomenon......

link with a few stories

I'm aware some cases fit with the wick explanation. What I'm saying is it is demonstrably impossible for a body or a group of cells/chunk of meat for that matter to generate enough heat via biological means that it's at risk of catching fire. There is a medical condition known as malignant hyperthermia, which is about as close to SHC as you can get. The victim's metabolism goes into a type of runaway, resulting in their body quite literally cooking itself. This happens at around 45 to 50 degrees, at which point the unfortunate person dies and the heat also dies as the metabolic cells are destroyed by their own heat.

 

In cases of SHC, the victim showed no indication that their body was getting hot, and if the testimony of the reported survivors are to be taken into question, they did not feel any heat rising up beforehand.

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Just now, Ravenharp said:

I'm aware some cases fit with the wick explanation. What I'm saying is it is demonstrably impossible for a body or a group of cells/chunk of meat for that matter to generate enough heat via biological means that it's at risk of catching fire.

And yet it happens. What is your paranormal explanation and how do you prove it?

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12 minutes ago, Euphorbia said:

And yet it happens. What is your paranormal explanation and how do you prove it?

It's related to metaphysics, but my theory pretty much mirror's this person's theory on another forum;

http://www.armchairgeneral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=132924&page=2

As for evidence, there's some suggestion in science that something equivalent to a 'soul' may in fact exist;

http://phys.org/news/2014-01-discovery-quantum-vibrations-microtubules-corroborates.html

SHC fueled by some kind of 'malfunction' to do with the soul would also explain why it does not happen with animals despite them vastly out-numbering us. It would also explain the vast amount of energy expended to reduce the body (and bones) to ash in such a short amount of time.

 

Even hydrogen requires oxygen to burn, and while we do have quite a bit of hydrogen in our guts, if it somehow ignited externally, its flame temperature is similar to that of gasoline (2,100 C) - and victims of self-immolation do not burn to ash within minutes down to the bone.

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First off, I don't believe we possess a soul. We have consciousness but the soul is a religious construct and thus part of the supernatural realm which again, I don't believe in.  There are many mysteries left as far as the brain goes but you're simply throwing out what-ifs in it's regard. The 21 gram theory has been debunked as far as I know and also as far as I know animals don't smoke cigarettes....outside of humans which are also animals.

Neither of us has the answers to SHC and I will leave the question for legitimate scientists. Would love to see other posters responses to your thread as I haven't done enough research on the subject.....

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Hi Ravenharp, thanks for all the links and the video. This is a subject that fascinates me but I have never done any 'research' on it. I was very interested in the possible link between the soul and SHC.

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13 hours ago, ouija ouija said:

Hi Ravenharp, thanks for all the links and the video. This is a subject that fascinates me but I have never done any 'research' on it. I was very interested in the possible link between the soul and SHC.

Via process of elimination. The biological explanations are demonstrably impossible but we either know very little about the soul (other than it's apparently quantum energy) or none at all. I cannot demonstrate that a soul would be incapable of incinerating a body, and there are reports of disembodied souls (ghosts) such as the fire spook of Caledonia Mill allegedly igniting fires. If the source of energy for SHC is the soul, then I wonder what could trigger this sudden release of energy.

Edited by Ravenharp
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12 minutes ago, Ravenharp said:

 If the source of energy for SHC is the soul, then I wonder what could trigger this sudden release of energy.

A sudden extremely strong desire to not be trapped in a body anymore? A sudden strong desire to be somewhere else ..... anywhere else? Extreme anger? Strong self-hatred? Maybe it is suddenness and extreme intensity combined.

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20 minutes ago, ouija ouija said:

A sudden extremely strong desire to not be trapped in a body anymore? A sudden strong desire to be somewhere else ..... anywhere else? Extreme anger? Strong self-hatred? Maybe it is suddenness and extreme intensity combined.

Good theory, although in cases where the victim survived, they made no mention of such a thing. Rather they felt no build up of heat - their body was suddenly enveloped in flames and in some cases they felt no pain.

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I'd be curious to know of any other or similar theories.

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