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Many people believe that Spontaneous Human Combustion was first documented in such early texts as the Bible, but, scientifically speaking, these accounts are too old and secondhand to be seen as reliable evidence.

Over the past 300 years, there have been more than 200 reports of persons burning to a crisp for no apparent reason.


Do you think this is possible?can the human body generate enough heat to explode?

I have read some recent reports of this happening.

Witness accounts seem reliable.

So yes I think it's possible.

The cause however I have no idea about.

Hopefully others will.

I liked reading about it but i have my doubts that it could happen. I have studied forensic science and there are many factors that play a part in the combustion but non of the studies we conducted which we tried on a pigs body. Could we recreate an inside explosion which in theory the fire starts in the digestanl tract.

I have seen several doccumentaries on this and read some scientific articles.

I do not think these cases are "Spontaneous" combustion. Most have a doccumented ignition source, most often a cigarette and the person was likely deceased from some other cause before the fire. The reason the body is consumed, and nothing else is that most of the victims are quite overweight. The heat of the ignition sourse melts and then ignites the body fat. The fat continues to melt, and burn, much like a candle. The chair, bed, carpet they are on does not burn itself, but acts a s a wick for the burning of the fat.

Several experiments have been carried out with hog carcases which have a similar fat content and dody composition to an overweight human. The burning process occued as desribed above with the body being consumed by combustion, but the surrounding areas charred, but intact.

The reason for this for this question.
Awhile back I was watching a show called in to the unknown and they did thing on SHC and somepeopls sware that a man standing at a bus stop actaually just started on fire.They had actual cell cam videos you could see people running up to him putting him out but no flames so I question it.But 20 people saw flames and called 911 got it on cell phone hit the news as a huge storie.

I know most people think that the human body can't burn because of its high water content. It does, a visit to a crematorium will prove that.

The problem is that the body needs a lot of heat to burn. Even then I believe that the crematorium folk have to use some sort of grinder to reduce the remains to a powder, long after the body has been in 1000's of degrees of heat for a long time.

I am always stuck on this, I have seen the photos where SHC victims are nothing but ash, except the odd limb but the furniture around them is untouched.

Is it possible to have enough heat to reduce a body (without grinders) into ash yet have no radiation [I apologise now if I have the wrong form of heat there] ?

Could it be that the victim's own inbuilt heat problem is such that the heat is radiated inwards ? If that is possible, it would explain the lack of hard bone lumps and the absence of any surrounding scortch

okay you all are freaking me out about this, does it just happen to anyone or is it inherited??

Very good question can it happen to any one ???

CrymsonRaven please remember to cite your sources or the thread gets closed under the plagerism rule, its a shame to have a long thread RIA'd for that one mistake. In trying to research an answer for you I found the site that you copied your question from.

The SHC doesn't appear to be genetic, it happens to mostly overweight people and it always happens indoors, there have been survivors but they can remember anything.

It can't be painful because no-one calls for help and it can't be noisy because no-one ever hears anything. It takes a long period of time and the people are usually alone for a long period of time.

ooops i thought I put in the url when i went to look at it I didnt see it sorry for spotting that one for me next time i will make sure if its not posted i will make another comment so heres were i found it so every one knows were you and i found the infomation http://www.crystalinks.com/shc.html

For those interested, I direct your attention to the Journal Of Forensic Science: 2002 May;47(3):466-70

Experiments in the combustibility of the human body

Abstract

"This paper provides possible explanations for two previously misunderstood circumstances surrounding cases of so-called "spontaneous human combustion"--the nearly complete cremation of human bone, and the failure of such fires to spread to nearby combustibles. ....The second experiment involved the combustion of a sample of human tissue and observation of the flame height and burning area in order to calculate the effective heat of combustion. The resulting heat was 17kJ/g indicating a fire that is unlikely to spread. These results, which are among the first obtained for human samples, lend further support and credence to previous scientific explanations for "spontaneous human combustion."

SHC... Hm...

I can definitely see how this can happen, Artemka pretty much covered it I believe.

Personally, I think SHC could be compared to cats (bare with me). Cats have no way of releasing heat. They don't sweat, pant, anything. So when it gets overheated, it pretty much starts to burn/melt them inside out (trust me, personal experience). Even though we do have ways of releasing heat, there are times that we can't do it quick enough. If a person is overweight, there's too much to cool off in too short an amount of time. If a person is under the influence, their body is functions more slowly than it would normally. Just stuff like that, I suppose.

That's my 2 cents.

I do believe that human tissue may combust or humans may combust. After checking the sources that some have related to I think no matter the material may combust after a certain degree is reached. So i do believe in this

Dogs are the same way they do not sweat.
Just pant and all so if upon reading the article url that is provided there is mentions of sometimes no human bones left. How ever when and the human body is cremated there are still some bones left and the cornier smashes them I do not have an answer to why some of the bones do not burn.

I will clarify, I am not saying the body cannot burn. Just not spontaniously.

Yes KCRC iv also seen the documentaries and it is very plausible.
I would like to see this bus stop combustion event …
Ill look on u tube

Spooky Minutes: Spontaneous Human Explosion
http://youtube.com/watch?v=OfbRrJxk4FE

that link is a spoof i wanted to shed some light on this subject it is nothing to really make fun of.Still seaching for the eye witness video of a man on fire at a bus stop.

I do not believe the human body can spontaneously combust, it can burn but not spontaneously combust. I'll have to take sciences side in saying that the person that "spontaneously combusted" was already dead, there was a ignition point and the body's fat worked as a wick.

I don't think spontaneous combustion is possible without some external force. The human body just doesn't seem capable of such a feat.

I really don't think it's possible that humans can generate so much heat that it gets to the point where the body explodes. I've never heard of it happening.

In every tabletop discussion I have had where this ended up being the topic of conversation, it was both thought and believed to be true that most if not all of the cases of known Spontaneous Human Combustion there was a common thread - alcoholism. Does anyone know if this is truly the case?

There was actually a show on like the Discovery channel or something about this...try www.discoverychannel.com and search for it. Quite informative.

There would have to be a serious chemical imbalance in your body for it to spontaneously combust.

I've heard the stories and such about it, but I don't think I believe it.

KCRC, please cite sources.....
there have been a few threads about this topic
but in the research I did I found claims of that being a possibility, but not a provable one, as the heat of ANY fire would not only scorch surrounding fabrics, but the heat required to reduce BONE to ash is signifigantly higher than a basic wicking flame such as you describe, flesh and fatty tissue maybe....but not bone

what combination of chemicals in what portions could make one ignite like that? is it instantaneous or drawn out? this is fascinating.

the human body is created of acids and other chemicals and i think it is possible if given to much of one thing that one can generate enough internal heat to cause such a thing although this is still a great mystery

there are some casues that arer still in reavuie cause they cant be identfied postived as buring on there own becuse most are sparked by a lite siggerate and are happing to large people so wheen the clothse burn the fat in a human boudy burns like a candle hot enough to burn all skin and some but not all most peole say its ihc (instant humen combustion)

discovery channel did a show on this a few years back. can't remember the name of the show but they proved that it was possible for it to happen.

Their are a lot of people who think that the reason for SHC is caused by the person drinking to much alcohol then falling asleep with a lit cigarette, then th clothes go up then the fire feeds of the fat then the fire reaches the alcohol in the stomach and the whole body goes up, but since i have never seen a person SHC then i really do not know what happens...

Every time I see these documentaries about spontaneous human combustion, they fill me awe because it is so difficult to conceive that ordinary people like you or me can end like this. It is best to stay as fat-free as possible, no sense in adding fuel to the fire!

i feel this is a subject that truly will never be explained...maybe you can disprove it with the lack of evidence and lack of scientific facts but proving it with reliable evidence seems quite challenging.

I have heard of this phenomenon although I haven't read anything on it.... I've seen shows about it on tv.... but I don't really know a lot.... I will look into it further but I don't see why it couldn't be possible...

I do believe in the spontanious human combustion. I don't understand how or why it happens sometimes though

I've heard about it and even seen movies of it happen, but to me, it is just too weird to think about! But, yes, I do believe it can happen... as to how and why it can happen... don't ask me :)

I can understand the cigarette ignition source explanation....the issue I have is the level of heat distribution in relation to surrounding area damage....if you know anything about how fire reacts and the heats it can produce then that is the real conundrum....the heat it takes to incinerate bone should cause the entire room to immolate due to passing the flashpoint of the building materials in the area

That is something i was wondering to if the bones of the body are burned to ash then that would have to cause the whole house to go up in flames but it does not, i think that is why SHC is so interesting and mysterious to people, you really do not know how it happens...

Probably a flash burn that ignites and that is so hot that it smothers its self almost instantly. but i do beleive the power of the body and the mind is yet all the way tapped into. so this may happen with not knowing. i do believe in this, never seen it just some videos, but doctors have their ideas of it.

i would be curious what suck autopsy reports have to say about such instances.

Given enough alcohol intake coupled with a barbecue...sure...why not? :)

Yes, it is real and it happens. There is also need need to get mystical in order to explain it. It can be explained in scientificly.

I know a guy who managed a one stop funeral place in a third world country. The local custom was to bury people but occasionally they had a foreigner who died and most of them preferred to be cremated. These corpses they burnt on an outside funeral pyre. He said they used around half a ton of wood to cremate one body.

Bodies are very hard to burn on a BBQ, because a body is mainly water. Spontaneous Human Combustion is a different process to barbecuing.

First of all I would like to say how much I have enjoyed reading this thread. Now my theory would be that a few guys im out and get drunk then they come home and try to do that set a fart on fire. Then for some reason probably a hick up due to the alcohol the escaping gases ignite and then are sucked back into the body. I have no way me proving this but thats what my friends and I came up with

I've watched documentories about it. To think about it happening is hard to believe for me, but I'm always open to ideas.

I have heard of the wick effect .

yes I do believe that this happens, I think that this thread is very interesting, and it has answered alot of my questions. I have always heard of this happening, but I was never sure of why. I think the most logical explanation would have to be some sort of chemical imbalance in the body to cause it to burst into flames.

I think it's possible, just really uncommon, and I'm sure some people do die by falling asleep after drinking then having a lit cigarette catch them on fire...it's an interesting idea either way

after seing s documentairy on the case of Helen Conway, I am puzzled, part say yes its true and part say no, so I will still follow before making up my mind.

I dont think anyone ever gonna truly understand why it happen's but yes it is true and yes it scarey.

there is evidence that it is true, one story i heard when i was a little girl was a woman was at her wedding and within 2 minutes she was dust on the floor and her husband was right next to her n didnt get burnt.

i do not believe that a body can just combust without other factors...something explosive

well we have chemicals in us that if mixed can cause bad reactions...what if 2 really bad ones caused a fire.

I beleive it could happened. WIth the body temp rising and the chemical reactions of the body changing it could burst. You must remember that the human body is made up of all the mineals of the universe ....that's a power "Big Bang".

i heard about this on the discovery channel where they mentioned this and had a whole show on it, its really very interesting..

I have seen stories and documentries regarding this subject, this is a great subject

Yes it is humanly possiable to generate that much enery,It's produced by the base chakra and is called the serpent fire,but my recomendations are that you not play with this powerful force.

There are stories about this . I saw a show with Dr. Rule. We do give off energies but I don't know if it would be enough to combust. That's just my opinion.

I think SHC is a pretty cool concept. I'm never going to say that the human body incapable of having it happen. But i'm going to say that it is probably very rare. What I'd like to discuss is the possible reasons for the phenomena to occur.

I've seen all the documentaries, but I have a problem believeing someone can just explode without benefit of something combustible.

I am going to have to agree with some that has been posted as far as chemical imbalance..Also,I am thinking,there is one thing that could cause a flash type fire and that is Oxygen.Im wondering if the body could somehow become saturated with it.

I find this a very interesting topic. I have read heaps of books about this subject. It is unbelievable that someone can burst into flames yet the surrounding area isnt touched.

I am not sure how this is possible or how the human body can even generate enuff heat to burst into flames. All the books I have read have overwelming evidence which justifies this can happen but yet i still havent ready anywhere how it could...I have an open mind and if enuff evidence I can believe in anything.

Most of these incidents are from what know as the wick affect, where the body is burned slowy at as hot temperature leaving just the lower legs usually....though some reports give a time frame not long enough for the wick affect to take its course so i guess its possible....
but its very improbable

There have been many documented case of this and is more than possible. Enjoyed reading the post some very informative ones up there!

i have seen docs on spontaneous comb.
and it is very possible i think.. i mean there are so many other odd things that has happened...maybe it can be some sort of hellish demon that chooses certain people but who knows

It was honestly not until I read this thread that I found out that SHC isn't actually a proven 'event'. I have lived my entire life thinking that people can just go "poof!" Not so, it seems.

In this aspect, I would be in the same boat of the people that think body fat is the greatest attribute to what we know as SHC. I wonder though, what could be the source of the combustion?

I've never heard of human temperatures rising so high as to warrant an explosion. That said, there are so many chemical reactions and chemicals in our body that might reach boiling point and cause a chain reaction which appears as an explosion that we haven't yet considered.

In any case, this is a very interesting topic!

Sure I guess that it could happen

What imedietly came to mind is how very diciplined people can controll there body temprature.

like the monks who can dry a soaked sheet on there back in a few minits. (very crazy to see)

so we know that the mind controlls body temprature and since weve hardly scraped the top of what our brains could do, then whos to say SHC isint caused by the victim's mind?

... just a thought :)

I think that the body can explode from becoming to hot.. it is possible

Anything is possible in the human body. If people are capable of energy feedings, mind reading, and all that...its possible.

Do I believe in SHC? Let's just say I never light up a cigarette at the "All you can eat chilli cookout!

I do believe this is possible for the human body. It is afterall, documented and it has been seen. I would like to be there when something like that happens though.

Ill bring the marshmellows HisDarkling...

I haven't heard of any SHC lately all the books I have read relate to around the 70's and B4, has anyone heard of an incident lately?

uzziel....i'll bring the drinks :P

I have seen it happen only once in my life time and it was due to the fact that someone was trying to rescue someone from a fire without a fire suit. The fire was so hot that before he could get to it he caught fire.

I've heard many theories on spontaneous combustion but have never delved deeply enough into the topic for me to form a validated opinion on this. but from what Ive see on tv and from what I heard, i truly think that it could be possible, i feel like anything is possible. But how it happens is what i don't know or have any theories on. but i wonder if we wrote in to Myth Busters, if they would find a way to see if it can happen.

There have been alot of reports of it happening.It's almost
like your body begins a melt-down..cells in your body charge up and cause so much fritcion against fluids and other cells,
that you just burt into flames.What wierd is...is that the heat
is so intence..that usually nothing is left..excepting maybe an ear or the feet.Even more strange..is that the chair they may
be sitting in..goes unbruned.

i watched an episode of csi where they were trying to figure out if that was possible. i believe it was a negative. however, there are more and more accounts of this. and i think anything is possible.

yes

Interesting, but hmm anything's possible

it could happen

Yes I have read and heard of SHC that has happened within the last 2 years.It was a 37 year old schoolteacher taht was in the study of the 9 chakras yes I said 9,anyways he tried to release the base chakra before he opened his chakra points and the SERPENT FIRE incinerated him.

well don't they say that people generate so much amount of energy. could it be possible they generated enough energy to catch on fire?

I can not see how it is possible without an outside source. I mean for the human body to heat itself to the point where they combust would already kill the person. But if there is an ignition source than just like animal fat it could be possible for it to happen

in the case of brain injury, often the heat control center is affected

but to a point where the fat in the body begins to boil? actually does anyone know what the boiling temperature of fat is?

i too have read a few reports that date back to the 18th centrey i must admit it would be intersting to see

I've read about this too. From what I've read about it, I believe it could happen. Actually, I'm scared of this happening to me. My body temp is always higher than the norm and I'm always feeling hot, even in the dead of winter. I also have a high amount of electricity in my body to the point that I can't wear a watch. It's scary. To me, anyway.

This would be interesting to see. I agree with othis on that one. but i also think that it is possible. I can be very skeptical, but when it comes to things of the supernatural sort, I cant prove that its impossible. and that is why i believe anything can happen.

Actually one of Spinal Taps drummers died that way on stage in the late 60's early 70's that was the only incident that has ever been mentioned in a interview based documentary with this band. There has never been anything on record ever of this incident. Yet hundreds of people die each year because of it.

Actually one of Spinal Taps drummers died that way on stage in the late 60's early 70's that was the only incident that has ever been mentioned in a interview based documentary with this band. There has never been anything on record ever of this incident. Yet hundreds of people die each year because of it.

heres a good link
http://skepdic.com/comments/shccom.html

my b/f generates alot of energy also. his head hit the tv antenna and you could see a blue spark. I swear he messes up tv reception when he walks buy and makes my wireless go out too.

Mezkha.....add sources...without them your talking out your butt
and still nobody is tackling my issues with the wick theory...it might make the flesh burn...but to incinerate bone requires temperatures of a much higher level, which would cause the rooms to burn up also.....why are the rooms unburnt with only minor smoke damage?
with that kind of heat the room should hit flashpoint and backdraft the first person to open the doors

Anything is possible. (:

In my opinion due to the fact that the human body is an enigma, nothing can be ruled out or said impossible. There are people myself being one of them generates more electricity than most other people. Why its unknown its just the way my body is.

Spontaneous human combustion will dog scientists for years to come. How do you explain the fact that the furniture and surrounds don't catch on fire? Its too weird and unusual to be explained, I am sure some scientist in the future will show exactly what happens, until then I believe it happens and that its real.

Just my 2 cents worth.

an old friend told me that when a person combusts it is because they were related in some way/only late living relative of the people that used to hang/burn witches and that they were the one causing it by revenge.

I believe this could happen . I even heard about it happening . But I have never witness it .

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