Paranormal Cold Cases - SHC (Spontanious Human Combustion)

[Disclaimer] - The below post contains graphic images of deceased persons

Spontaneous Human Combustion

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Spontaneous human combustion (SHC) describes alleged cases of the burning of a living human body without an apparent external source of ignition. While there have been about 200 cited cases[1] worldwide over a period of around 300 years, most of the alleged cases are characterized by the lack of a thorough investigation, or rely heavily on hearsay and oral testimony. In many of the more recent cases, where photographic evidence is available, it is alleged that there was an external source of heat present (often cigarettes), and nothing occurred "spontaneously."

Many hypotheses attempt explanations for the various cases of human spontaneous combustion. These generally fall into three groups:


-Paranormal explanations (e.g., a ghost or divine intervention)

-Natural explanations based on an unknown and otherwise unobserved phenomenon (e.g., production of abnormally concentrated gas or raised levels of blood alcohol cause spontaneous ignition)

-Natural explanations that involve an external source of ignition (e.g., the victim dropped a cigarette)


Objections to natural explanations typically refer to the degree of burning of the body with respect to its surroundings. Indeed, one of the common markers of a case of SHC is that the body—or part of it—suffered an extraordinarily large degree of burning, with surroundings or lower limbs comparatively undamaged.[1]

Wikipedia

Does anyone remember this strange topic?

I can remember reading about it many years ago in paranormal books and case studies and since the internet formed it is something i had all but forgotten about untill recently.

After reading online there doesnt seem to have been any new cases in the past 14 years, the last recorded case being in 1997:

24th March, 1997
Co Kerry, Irish Republic. 76 year old John O'Connor was found dead in his living room at Gortaleen by the community nurse who regularly visited him. Mr O'Connors charred remains were in a chair positioned some distance from his hearth. Only his head and upper torso along with his feet remained unburnt. There was little smoke damage to the room or furniture. The Local priest who attended the scene described it as "if somebody had poured petrol into his lap".

Source

The earliest possible case recorded in Italy, 1487:

One such instance is the combustion of a knight named Polonus Vorstius sometime during the reign of Queen Bona Sforza in Milan (sometime between 1515 and 1557) [2] In the Sixteenth Century, the Academic Senate of Copenhagen was sent a deposition about a person who died after belching flames, and then being consumed from the inside. (Historiarum Anatomicarum Rariorum by Thomas Bartholin).

Source

Although there may have been more since 1997 I have not been able to find the documented cases online. Further down in this post there will be information and links to other past recorded cases.



Common Facts Regarding SHC Cases


1. The Majority of victims are are female
2. Many are overweight or obese and were known alcholics
3. Although the majority of the body was burned and the heat was intence enough to cremate the remains, the heat was onlt localised to the body or nearby furniture. The rest of room was reasonably unaffected by the fire. ( It is worth nothing that to cremate a body the heat required is in the range of 870–980 °C (1,598–1,796 °F) )
4.The victim was always alone and never tried to call for help and there was no apparent struggle.
5. Heavy alcohol consumption before the event was also noted in many cases.
6. A yellow fowl smalling oil usually surrounds the body ( possibly relating to body fat )


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Paranormal Vs Normal

So is it a real paranormal event or something that can be explained by less sinister causes or human error?

Dr. Mark Benecke, a forensic scientist as well as a biologist, says no. In his article, Spontaneous human combustion: thoughts of a forensic biologist (Skeptical Inquirer, 1998) he writes, "To my knowledge, no scientific book or article written by a chemist, physicist, biologist, or doctor has ever reported bodies suddenly igniting through some internal but unknown mechanism."

He also asserts that unlike common belief in complete annihilation of the body, in alleged cases of SHC, the internal organs of the victim are usually not "essentially changed" and that in all cases, the internal organs suffer no more damage than the body's exterior, which indicates the fire begins from outside rather than from within.

Source

Possible Causes / Suggested Explainations

Wikipedia Source

Unverified natural phenomena


- Since every human body contains varying strengths of electrical field and the human body also contains flammable gases (mainly methane in the intestines), an electrical discharge could ignite these gases.

- SHC victims are sometimes described as lonely people who fall into a trance immediately before their incineration. Heymer[3] suggests that a psychosomatic process in such emotionally-distressed people can trigger off a chain reaction by reacting nitrogen within the body and setting off a chain reaction of mitochondrial explosions. This hypothesis has been criticized on the basis that Heymer "...seems to be under the illusion that nitrogen exist as gases in the blood and are thus vulnerable to ignition, which is, in fact, not the case."[4] (Mitochondria are organelles found within cells.) The hypothesis also fails to take into account the fact that nitrogen is an inert, non-flammable gas.

- Another hypothesis suggests high-energy particles or gamma rays[1] coupled with susceptibilities in the potential victim (e.g. increased alcohol in the blood) triggers the initial reaction. This process may use no external oxygen to spread throughout the body, since it may not be an oxidation-reduction reaction. However, no reaction mechanism has been proposed, nor has a source for the high-energy particles.

- The victim is an alcoholic and has been smoking while drinking or shortly after drinking a strong spirit. There are claims that this raises the blood alcohol level to a point where it ignites; however, this theory is implausible, since ethanol typically burns only if the concentration is greater than about 23%, whereas a fatally toxic level is about 1%.[5] However, this does introduce the probability that the victim falls asleep while holding a lit cigarette.

- Another hypothesis is that both clothing and the person are ignited by a static electric discharge. A person walking across a carpet can build up sufficient charge and voltage to create a spark. It is unlikely that this could start a clothing fire, as although the voltage can be high (several thousand volts), the stored energy is very low (typically less than a joule). Proponents of this hypothesis say that records show there has never been a recorded case of a naked SHC victim.

- The controversial phenomenon of ball lightning has also been proposed as a cause of spontaneous combustion.

- One hypothesis for SHC takes into account mitochondria, the "internal combustion engine" of higher living organisms.
Mitochondria are the powerhouses of the body, and sites of highly active energy packet production that uses an oxidative phosphorylation mechanism. Uncoupling of the metabolic processes in mitochondria from its energy production results in generation of large amounts of heat that is called thermogenesis. (This heat production is different from fever, which is an inflammatory response to infection).
Mitochondria are especially abundant in the skeletal muscle cells that require high energy output for their function. Since skeletal muscles constitute a major portion of the body, they harbor an enormous number of energy producing mitochondria. Under stress and certain extreme physiological conditions, the hyperactivity of energy producing mechanism of the body may exceed the conservation or utilization.
Available body fat may also serve as additional fuel for combustion. This hypothesis still requires rigorous laboratory testing.



Natural Explainations

- Cigarettes are often seen as the source of fire. Usually, it is thought that natural causes such as heart attacks may lead to the victim dying, subsequently dropping the cigarette. Embers from cigarettes and pipes may also ignite clothes.[3] Additionally, cigarettes burn at a temperature too low to trigger a flare up of most otherwise combustible materials. Typically, a lit cigarette dropped on an article of clothing creates a burn-hole, but does not initiate an open flame and spread.

- 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.


- Scalding can cause burn-like injuries, including death, without setting fire to clothing. Although not applicable in cases where the body is charred and burnt, this has been suggested as a cause in at least one claimed SHC-like event.

Other theories that have been put forward over the years include:

- Devine intervention, Ghost or poltergeist activity.
- Static electricty build up.
- Poor diet leading to an explosive gas build up in the digestive system.
- Electrical fields in the body that lead to a chemical chain reaction within the body.


Even one that should be most obvious has been considered -

Murder Most Foul

In March of 2000 at a forensic science conference held in Australia, US scientist John De Haan stated his belief that murder is often involved in alleged SHC occurrences. He explained that an external accelerant generates sufficient heat to sit a body ablaze and melting body fats continue the conflagration after the accelerant has been expended3.

Haan backed up his theory with an experiment he had conducted in a controlled environment. The layer of fat under the skin promotes burning9. Because they are similar to humans in fat content, Haan chose a dead pig as his victim. He wrapped the pig in a blanket, wetted the blanket with a small amount of gasoline and then set it on fire. After five hours, Haan's experiment showed that the pig remains were identical to those found in spontaneous human combustion cases4.

Mark Benecke. “Spontaneous human combustion: thoughts of a forensic biologist. .” Skeptical Inquirer 1 Mar 1998. 28 Sep 2008 .

Victims and Cases:


Polonus Vorstius : Italy, 1470

Nicole Millet : France, 1725

Cornelia di Bandi : Italy, 1731

Phyllis Newcombe : United Kingdom, 1938

Mary Reeser : United States, 1951

Anna Martin : United States, 1957

Helen Conway : United States, 1964

John Irving Bentley : United States, 1966

Robert Francis Bailey : United Kingdom, 1967

Ginette Kazmierczak : France, 1977

Henry Thomas : Wales, 1980

Jeannie Saffin : England, 1982

George I. Mott : United States, 1986


The above are just some of the hundreds of known cases. There are many more listed online and on the links provided at the end of this post.



What we are left with is no real explaination as to the cause of this strange phenomena. We may not have had any recent reported events but the question is, when will this elusive cause of death strike again?



Related Online Media










Further Reading / References


Wikipedia - Spontanious Human Combustion

Crystallinks

Paranormal Encyclopedia

Castle of Spirits

BBC - Case Study

Dark-Stories

reply to post by Havick007


Interesting post, thanks
This subject has always fasinated me ever since i was a kid.
I dont believe it is caused by people setting themselves on fire, nore do i think it is paranormal either.
I believe they are wierd freakish incident that can occur every now and then that science hasnt come up decent explaination yet.
Nore have i came up with a decent idea yet.

One thought i do have is that there could be atoms of matter that we are yet to discover, and that one of said atoms shots through a body instantly start a chain reaction that is SHC .


s&f

reply to post by meathed


It was the same for me, reading through paranormal and unexplained mystery books when i was in my early teens and it fascinated me.

There are so many theories but nothing conclusive.

The wick theory was the closest they got to explaining it, although it doesnt explain how the fire began, how the fire burned at such a high temp and why it was only localised to the body.

Why would someone let themselves burn?



What you said about the Atom theory, that's interesting. I actually noticed something similar on one of the sites i looked at today although i didnt really mention it in the thread.


It's called the Subatomic Pyrotron Theory -

The Subatomic Pyrotron Theory, which is based on quantum physics. The theory states that there is an extremely small but high-powered particle—like a neutrino—that zips through the spaces between the quarks that make up the atoms, which compose the molecules of the human body. On rare occasions a rogue particle scores a direct hit with a quark and sets off an internal chain reaction. I’ve dubbed this occurrence the Internal Hiroshima Effect, which may result in SHC.

www.parascience.com...

You might be onto something there

Perhaps i could have posted this in the UFO forum as well.....


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Did anyone ever consider the Alien Ray Gun thoery??

Have you people ever considered the possibility that these victims are beings from another starworld who came to live amongst earthlings. This could be their way of dying. There has been no more reports of such happenings since the last one.Speculations of the cause of the burning does not hold their weight because of the peculiarity of the burned body.It has the looks of a cold type of fire that does not cause the surroundings to catch fire.

reply to post by Havick007


Apparently Spontanious Human Combustion has been pretty much solved, heard this years ago - thats why it's not a hot topic anymore:

1) an external ignition source such as a lit cigarette dropped into flammable clothing
2) this burns through to the fat layer where the ‘wick effect’ takes place.
3)Fat from the body is soaked into the victim’s clothing - who is passed out - it then burns like a candle.
Human fat burns at very high temperatures

But my question is with human fat burns at high tempretures, why is everthing else intact?
You can see the fat on the chair where it has melted - why did this not catch?

- I think an almost instant incineration is the only way nothing else could burn. I think the theory of the hydrogen combusting in our water molecules (which make up most of our body) is the theory I would lean most towards believing.

Originally posted by byteshertz
reply to post by Havick007

 

Apparently Spontanious Human Combustion has been pretty much solved, heard this years ago - thats why it's not a hot topic anymore:

1) an external ignition source such as a lit cigarette dropped into flammable clothing
2) this burns through to the fat layer where the ‘wick effect’ takes place.
3)Fat from the body is soaked into the victim’s clothing - who is passed out - it then burns like a candle.
Human fat burns at very high temperatures

But my question is with human fat burns at high tempretures, why is everthing else intact?
You can see the fat on the chair where it has melted - why did this not catch?

- I think an almost instant incineration is the only way nothing else could burn. I think the theory of the hydrogen combusting in our water molecules (which make up most of our body) is the theory I would lean most towards believing.

edit on 9-4-2011 by byteshertz because: (no reason given)

ya, ok, it would be soooooooooo well known by this time that you fall asleep with a butt and burn down the place,

wait! ya that is a fact!

not that you get treated to a crematorium style party and nothing else gets slagged.

i'm trying to find the article that said there were 3 cases at the same time in 3 different places in the world that this happened.

reply to post by Havick007


Yeah. my teen years were filled of nights reading stories like these. Fun times.

It seems too that some of these people are awake at the time of SHC as In the case of Robert Bailey he was alive and awake at the time SHC got to him, as the firemen had to use a crowbar to pry bailey's scorched head off a timber post as Bailey had bitten into the post while he was burning. Now thats got to HURT.!!!!!

That SP theory is interesting, it would be like a tiny little meteor passing through you instantly igniting you.
(Thats not a pretty thought), And would go to explain the ferocity and instant burning of the most of the bodies, and the localisation of the fire, and could explain why the surrounding areas are scorched and not to badly burnt. As SP theory it burns up its fuel source( bodies) to quickly.

Ps thanks for links, i will have a good read later.

ETA. Yes Malvin the Martian could also be the culprit
Its good we are still open to all avenues

reply to post by byteshertz


Yeah i have leaned toward the wick thoery in the past although it has some holes.

How would someone not wake up or be alerted to being burnt before death occurs. People can withstand a high degree of burning before death.

Also as you said and as covered in the OP, it is onlt localised to the body, many time the arms or legs of a person are left untouched as well as the majority of the room they were in.

If you look at the first youtube clip, about 1/3 of the way in to the story a man is desribing how how found his father and all that remained were ashes of his body but the rest of the bedroom was almost untouched. The bed was mostly fine as well, it was only the outline of where his body lay that was burnt.

To turn the body to ash requires alot of heat, the radiant energy or heat should then affect the rest of the surrounding area, paper, clothes and some furniture should also combust due to radiant heat but it does not.


I could never understand how someone could not reliase it was happening to them unless it happened very quickly. Some could argue Carbon Monoxide poisining rendering the victim uncontious before being burnt, a similar happens in normal house fires. But the problem in this case is that the person is always the source of the fire...


We have certain self preservation mechanisms in our brain that will wake us up during pain etc. so then why dont these people wake up or call for help.

reply to post by Havick007


the wick theory is back engineered, it is all wrong. takes way too much time.

i've read and seen almost everything about SP for decades.

i will go with the first responders gut, that this is not biz as usual.

reply to post by meathed


Yeah the SP theory is fairly new to me and was only something i heard about today. The link i provided isnt exactly a science link but similar to all the others....

I tried searching for that theory on Google but could only come up with fringe sites... I am not saying it is not possible, just that i couldnt find anything to back it up. I tried to though and it may be possible.

If you find anything on it please post


In regard to people being awake, there is a report on the first youtube clip i posted about something related whilst the lady was awake.

There are also survivors of clamied SHC events, i actually meant to add it in to the OP under the vicitms section but forgot and then by the time i remebered the 4 hours had past

Originally posted by Havick007
reply to post by meathed

 

Yeah the SP theory is fairly new to me and was only something i heard about today. The link i provided isnt exactly a science link but similar to all the others....

I tried searching for that theory on Google but could only come up with fringe sites... I am not saying it is not possible, just that i couldnt find anything to back it up. I tried to though and it may be possible.

If you find anything on it please post

In regard to people being awake, there is a report on the first youtube clip i posted about something related whilst the lady was awake.

There are also survivors of clamied SHC events, i actually meant to add it in to the OP under the vicitms section but forgot and then by the time i remebered the 4 hours had past

SP theory is new to me too.
What i stated to you was a theory i have had about atoms for many, many years.( I didnt get from a book). Ever since i watched a documentary on how some atoms can travel through one side of the earth through to the other side.
So then my reasoning was that these atoms must have an immense power and energy behind them. So then i reasoned that if there are atoms that powerful, and man is yet to discover all atoms, could it be possible that one such atom hitting a person trigger the SHC effect. And my conclusion was yes, it IS possible.
Mate i just told you my thoughts on this as SHC. And I thought i would have been told i was an idiot at my suggestion. So i dont know what is scarier SHC or that i might be right
And it doesn't matter what its called,SHC or SP theory the outcome still the same
Its a nasty way to go.


Ps If i find some info i will post.
Pps. I too have heard stories of survivours too. I will try to find an old magizine i have with some tale of SHC.

reply to post by meathed


Here is a couple survivor stories from Wikipedia -

Two examples of people surviving static flash events are given in a book on SHC.[9] The author, John Heymer claims that the two subjects, Debbie Clark and Susan Motteshead, speaking independently and with no knowledge of each other, give similar histories.[10] In addition, Jack Angel claims to have survived an SHC-like event:

In September 1985, Debbie Clark was walking home when she noticed an occasional flash of blue light.[11] As she claimed, "It was me. I was lighting up the driveway every couple of steps. As we got into the garden I thought it was funny at that point. I was walking around in circles saying: 'look at this, mum, look!' She started screaming and my brother came to the door and started screaming and shouting 'Have you never heard of spontaneous human combustion?'" Her mother, Dianne Clark, responded: "I screamed at her to get her shoes off and it [the flashes] kept going so I hassled her through and got her into the bath. I thought that the bath is wired to earth. It was a blue light you know what they call electric blue. She thought it was fun, she was laughing."
In winter 1980, Cheshire, England resident Susan Motteshead was standing in her kitchen, wearing flame-resistant pajamas, when she was suddenly engulfed in a short-lived fire that seemed to have ignited the fluff on her clothing but burned out before it could set anything properly alight

reply to post by Havick007



Thanks again.
That brilliant blue light, has been mentioned before concerning SHC.
Those two stories are new to me. The survival story in my magazine was a different and was a bit more graphic. And the magazine even had a photo of Mr Bailey in it. I cant remember the name of my book, but X Factor was the magazine, it was a UK made mag, i think. But everytime i try to google X factor magazine i get that bloody reality show that was on channel 7.
I know my book and magazine are around, but its just past 12am here in my part of this beautiful country we share, im a little drunk so i wont be looking for that mag and book tonight.
And im computer illiterate or i would do a better search so if i find more info mate that i cant bring up, that i think you will want to add to this thread, I will u2u with details so you can add.
Peace mate.
Meathed

Originally posted by fooks
reply to post by Havick007

 

the wick theory is back engineered, it is all wrong. takes way too much time.

i've read and seen almost everything about SP for decades.

i will go with the first responders gut, that this is not biz as usual.

Im glad we can see eye to eye and agree on some subjects.
I agree with your statement on Wick theory, i agree that it takes way to long ,and not to mention the lack of damage to surrounding areas,
I have never heard of SPT till today. But after my thoughts and the scientfic evidence to back it up, that such reactions can take place makes SPT a very, very plausable conclusion to draw.
I agree this isnt science as we understand it in modern terms,(not biz as usual), but even if we dont understand it yet, well it is still science. And theres nothing sinister or paranormal about it. Just because we dont understand SHC now , doesnt mean will never will. And that is the beauty of this world is that there still so much yet to be understood, and even more yet to be discovered.
Peace.
Meathed

Originally posted by 1Starman
Have you people ever considered the possibility that these victims are beings from another starworld who came to live amongst earthlings. This could be their way of dying. There has been no more reports of such happenings since the last one.Speculations of the cause of the burning does not hold their weight because of the peculiarity of the burned body.It has the looks of a cold type of fire that does not cause the surroundings to catch fire.

Nope, sorry i have never ever considered this phenomenon as ET dying. Why you may ask.
Well for one, if there was an alien that was dying, and if it that this SHC was a way it died or if it is a way of disposing of the ET's body and of covering their tracks so to speak, when i hate to break it to you, their method of disposing of themselves leaves a lot of physical evidence around.
And sorry your speculation of ET burning holds no weight.

Originally posted by Havick007
reply to post by meathed

 

Yeah the SP theory is fairly new to me and was only something i heard about today. The link i provided isnt exactly a science link but similar to all the others....

I tried searching for that theory on Google but could only come up with fringe sites... I am not saying it is not possible, just that i couldnt find anything to back it up. I tried to though and it may be possible.

If you find anything on it please post

In regard to people being awake, there is a report on the first youtube clip i posted about something related whilst the lady was awake.

There are also survivors of clamied SHC events, i actually meant to add it in to the OP under the vicitms section but forgot and then by the time i remebered the 4 hours had past

Hey, Havick, hate to break it to you, but we ain't going to find much on SP theory, as I just googled Subatomic Pyrotron Theory, and the scary thing is that this thread has appeared on the second page of google search.
So what do you make of that??
Does that mean we may be asking the right questions about S P Theory & its connection to SHC ???
Or does it mean google is just a really bad server site?

reply to post by Havick007


This is my theory so dont take it too seriously.

I think some peoples body have a hard time breaking down some kind of enzime or something which causes it too build up in the body. This creates a very fine but highly flamable oil which is realesed through the paws when the person sweats. This oil is then ignited either by a spark from the persons cigarette or a static charge when the material of there clothing rubs together. Although this oil is very combustable it has a quick burn rate so it does'nt take long for it to expend its fuel. The rest of the process is done by the burning of body fat which burns quickly but with thermal range which is why the surrounding area does'nt really get effected. I would guess that the whole event would probably be over in about 3 to 5 mins.

There you go. enjoy

reply to post by meathed


I have seen my ATS threads pop up on Google results for all sorts of topics...

Try searching your ATS username, it pops up on all sorts of blogs and random pages.... well mine has in the past. I cant say whether yours personally has or does but check it out.


It's good and bad in some ways, good for publicity but if you only want to ATS members seeing your threads it's abit tricky. You could post on the RATS (Really Above Top Secret) forum, that is hidden from search engines and ATS boards but it doesnt have high traffic from ATS members.

the first pic made me laugh so hard lol