What causes spontaneous human combustion?

Answer 1

What exactly is SHC? By all accounts, it is the process by which humans allegedly burst into flames suddenly without having been in contact with any igniting source. It supposedly happens chemically, inside the body.

Interestingly, almost every case attributed to this singularity has seen the victims being consumed almost entirely, including the bones, while leaving extremities such as feet unscathed. The rest of the room usually remains intact as well, the fire not having spread out.

Centuries ago, it was believed that imbibing alcohol would amplify inflammability; in other words, getting drunk would be the cause of their demise. However, modern research has proven that it was a false belief.

Still, a number of cases have broken out throughout the last decades that have left firefighters and arson investigators boggled and several theories have been elaborated to explain the phenomenon.

Some believe that a large enough quantity of methane gas could build up within the intestines, ignited by enzyme activity (this theory has been deemed rather implausible). Another rationalization involves a subatomic particle called pyrotron , which could act as the required spark. Others look elsewhere for answers and accept that forces from a cosmic energy are indeed at work. Even balls of lightning have served as an explanation.

For a number of years, scientists have tried to find a logical solution for this mystery. First, they have realized that the reason extremities like feet sometimes aren't turned into ashes is that fire usually burns upwards; it rarely burns laterally. The flames have enough material to sustain them by consuming the upper body without having to go down to the feet.

The fat content of the human body is not challenged. Tests have proven that flesh and bones contain enough flammable material to sustain a fire. A "wick-effect" from human body fat could be at play and fire can burn hot enough to consume even bones. What is contested is that nothing in humans could actually ignite it all

A decisive experiment was attempted at the California Criminalistic Institute. Dr. John de Haan wrapped a dead pig in a blanket and sprinkled some gasoline over it. After ignition, the animal burned for five hours and its bones were destroyed. Haan chose to use a pig for this experiment because its fat content closely resembles that of humans.

The results? It demonstrated the aforementioned wick-effect, which explains why a person can slowly burn internally without attracting witnesses. It also explained why only the parts of the body that are high in fat content would be set ablaze, while other parts, like feet, remained intact.

After revisiting past alleged cases, researchers discovered that the victims were almost all elderly, and had the bad habit of smoking in bed. Sometimes murder was suspected, but mostly they were accidents in which the victims failed to wake up, having been under the influence of sleeping pills, alcohol or narcotics.

Because science is so advanced nowadays, people feel like there are no longer many mysteries. Without getting theological, people need to know their place in the world and this gets a lot easier when there is knowledge of supernatural forces. We need inexplicable puzzles in order to keep conjuring up theories, and believing in spontaneous human combustion is a good way to keep the conundrum of life active.

Furthermore, most people aren't aware of all the intricacies of the phenomenon and not knowing all the details can be quite scary. Searching the Internet is therefore a way for people to find out if they are potential victims of SHC -- and once they read more about it, they'll realize that it is quite unlikely.


The first reliable accounts of SHC date back to 1673, when author Jonas Dupont published a book (entitled De Incendiis Corporis Humani Spontaneis ) containing a collection of SHC cases inspired by the Nicole Millet case in which Mr. Millet was acquitted of the murder of his wife because the court was convinced that she was the victim of SHC. Since then, other cases were reported but most occured within the last fifty years.

Many books have been written on the subject, both trying to feed the myth and dispel it. A few minor films have embraced the issue as well, such as 1990's Spontaneous Combustion and Silent Night, Deadly Night 4: Initiation , while the Human Torch character from the Fantastic Four comics helped further introduce the idea to pop culture.

Just because SHC has been deciphered, it doesn't mean public interest will decrease. People will still try to find irrational explanations for this strange phenomenon

Answer 2

No one has proven that SHC even exists, let alone explain a cause. You might as well ask "What causes ghosts and vampires?".

Someone might be found dead, alone, from being burnt, so someone else postulates spontaneous human combustion. Why would there never be any witnesses?

Bogus, whether you want to believe the "wick theory", or the human body--fat burning theory, or whatever, there is always a cause. Nothing bursts into flame by itself, not even a dry sheet of paper on a hot day. Much less a living being made of mostly water. SHC is bogus baloney.

Answer 3

I believe the jury is still out on this one..i watched a special about it.

Answer 4

lack of sweating and cooling of the body

something like that

Answer 5

acetone..ketosis.