The Ultimate Vampire Resource and Directory

This Mystery is fasinating to me. I was just wondering on your theories or analysis of this topic, as it is still unexplained by forensics even when foul play is ruled out.

How do you think this occurs? Or Why?

Spontaneous Cumbustion is usually refered to as candling these days. It is the process where your clothes work as a wick, and your bodyfat works as a candle. A spilled ascellerant, and a flame source.

Usually someone drunk drops thier cigarette and they slowly burn, like a candle. It doesn't burn hot enough to singe the suroundings, but it does consume most of teh body... usually only leaving the feet.

My appologies

I guess it is called "wick effect", and there are other possible explanations for SHC.

one theory that if the person is constapiated long enough methane gas can flow up into the stomach and combine with the gasses in the stomach i dont remember which one but it causes an extremely explosive combination and any natural electrical misfire and its

FLAME-ON sorry had to make the fantastic four joke

It is just not probable.

Odd though how people still insist that it is somehow possible.

Source Skeptics Dictionary
pontaneous human combustion (SHC) cases continue to spark controversy (so to speak), largely due to the efforts of nonscientist authors and journalists. These include self-styled British paranormal researchers Jenny Randles and Peter Hough (Spontaneous Human Combustion, 1992), Pennsylvania school bus driver Larry Arnold (Ablaze!, 1995), English coal-miner-turned-constable John E. Heymer (The Entrancing Flame, 1996), and -- more recently -- the producers of A&E network's TV series The Unexplained.

The continued lack of scientific evidence for SHC [see Mark Benecke's article "Spontaneous Human Combustion: Thoughts of a Forensic Biologist," in this issue, pp. 47-51] keeps proponents desperately looking for cases they can attribute to the alleged phenomenon -- cases that are often quite disparate. They assign instances of unusual burning deaths to SHC rather like one might blame freak auto accidents on the Highway Gremlin. (For a discussion, see Nickell and Fischer 1987 and Nickell 1996.) Even cases with an obvious solution -- like the one illustrated on page 17 -- are sometimes hyped. That case, involving the 1980 death of an elderly Englishwoman who fell headfirst into a burning fireplace, was duly reported by Randles and Hough (1992, 84-85, 91) and by Arnold (1995, 130).

Even people once convinced it was possible somehow, have lost their conviction .

I saw Spontaneous Human Combustion in an anime called Rurouni Kenshin once. One of the villains of that anime, "Shishio," had been burned alive and some how managed to survive. Only thing was, his body temperature was unnaturally high, and he had no sweat glands. It was funny, actually, watching him foam at the mouth like he had rabies, then explode in flames, even though it's not probable.

Ive never looked for proof of it but ya never know ..But i do know of a guy in my town a few years back commited suicide by drinking gas and then soaking himself in it then he just lit himself on fire ..and ran about 10 or 20 feet they said .people tried to put him out did not work though.

I would personal question the drinking gas part, It would be unlikely that anyone who drank, then doused themselves in gas would be able to cognitivly engage an ignition source. Self emmulsion is possible though.

The only place that I have ever seen it happen is in movies and on the telly.

If you watch(ed) the CSI episode, not sure which one it was... They discussed the theory of spontaneous combustion in great detail and eventually concluded that even if the body temperature got hot enough, it would still not get to the degree of being combustable.

Whether or not the CSI show is actually factual, it did make alot of sense.

Yes, there was a bit somewhat similar on the show Mythbusters. The SHC theory was tested in many different ways and nothing seemed to work. Several other ideas were brought into question, clothing, chemicals, temperature. Many of the incidents seem to happen in Australia where naturally there is a high heat variable, and farmers there work with very flammable chemicals. It's quite possible for their pants to catch on fire or something, but Mythbusters tests showed that you would still need an open flame to ignite chemical soaked pants even in 100 + degree weather. So good question on how people keep igniting. If it does have anything to do with clothing I'm glad I won't have to worry about it. I rarely wear clothes lol.

Well I first time heard this and as a kid trying to grow upon this matter. I have seen the flames rise from nowhere on grains or the grass or on human cloths bu it was not human combustion. but now this human combustion.

human body right from its each cell contain 60% around water... if the human burning inside it absorbed by parted equally by while body and hence body temperature may rise... but after certain dee fahreinhite the person can not hold the life and it diessue to high fever. Now again this opinion clashes human combustion when it is still living is little confusing... no one can burn unless it is fueled and given flame to that fuel. ( as normally we see ) but even though SHC happens... this is strange to me. I must grow up on this topic if some one putmore light on it....

The underlying matter of STHC being mystical, or "PSI" actually would be pointless to conclude.. as La Murta points out, the questions would begin with such a designation, every disipline of the occult would jocky their interpretation, thus draw critical denouncement from other "researchers"
the matter would be suspended in a bliss.

Using Occams Razor...
shouldn't we conclude that this is proof of pyromancy?

*winks*

Well fire process is the part of human living as fire is one element of human forming even amiba and spyrogaira do use energy and burn it in living process, but it does not flame like anime dragon spilled fire...

Human do burn the calories due to element fire as much as that 24 ltr water can be evaporated in one second due to that, but that fire and burn is different turm as it cumbustion process of energies too, but it can not blow to form fire flames and its spectrum... coz there are balancing elements too such as water, air (not pana air - oxygen carrying fresh air, but it is apana - which stop fire flames) even earth (cells) too stop those direct three energies to get flame coz these energies are burnt in the cells only and fat bring into liquidation and burnt to form these three direct three energies.

but flame rise out of human body it is new to me but its to grow upon it... only celestail body have spectrum of light flames ( the sphere of aura and energies are those light flames ) but they are spectrum and vision of energy only and not the elemental flames & fire. and this energy sphere of fire (spectrum) is the fastest vehicle of the spirit, too.

I had a heated discussion with a girl that feared retaining anger she felt that being angry built up heat, that could scorch her nerves. After a few guiding inquiries, I learned she had attended a Yarmie (sp) seminar, a seminar that claims to begin a person on a way to " exercise" this retained " metatoxin" from the body. They even have a " supplement" to extract hard minerals from the body that ignite " metatoxins" in the body.

So what motive is/was behind all those who jumped on the SHC bandwagon?

Grant Money? To appeal to people with irrational fears, and then " rescue/ releave" them of such programed fears through ones practice, creating a dependency in the person who fears such a irrational fate..

~ diamon~ that did happen with a whale in Japan.

The body combusting at an excellerated rate of intense heat, burning the torso to ashes and leaving limbs behind; yet leaves the room standing, is almost incapable by forensics to recreate.
No ignition sources have been found on these cases. That's the mystery behind the question, how does this happen then?

Physics. There is no mystery, except for those who seek fantastical, and extrordinary confirmation for metaphysic claims.

Hmmm..well on the science channel,
They said that humans take alot of meds,and drink things that could make this happen.so many induced chemicals in ones body..might indeed react to the chemicals already in the body.
This does make sence.
they also said that..most victims did drink alot,
and take meds for there heart and blood sugars.

Yes that accounts for them not waking up to extinguish the smoldering fire, a person with unaltered concious ( drug free) will be more likely to react to a smoldering chair, or lap blanket.

I have had a smoldering cigereete under me, it was actually rather cozy had I been altered it could have easily embered.

i think its posable ,but as to do with something in the body and not outside that affects the fire.

well i can send you the vedio clip of human combustion due to external reason it is very interesting i have sent it once to my niece too and she shocked how deep human can combusted and caught fire... :)

I must grow up on whale case that might be injured whale yes in whale it can be possible that they blast like bomb but human can not. whale coz of large body and air tubes to keep them lighter than water may cause harmful gases but human can not...

one dead whale explode that you can not stand within few metres area of that exploding stinky whale which was beautiful and not stinking when it was live...

http://www.portnet.k12.ny.us/subjects/business/students/WebStudents/spring04/jeremyf/final/whale.html

Thanks for the input everyone!

I totally agree with kglitterous. It happens when someone falls asleep and either a cigarette or something with with a low heat source falls on Cotton clothes or a blanket. Then it rises the internal temp and starts melting the body fat, which heats up and turns the bone to ash.
As far as people walking down the street and bursting into flames NOT POSSIBLE.

http://www.unexplainedstuff.com/Ghosts-and-Phantoms/Spontaneous-Human-Combustion-SHC.html

There are some interesting cases at this site but as Dabbler has stated there has been no proof that the fires are really spontaneous but rather started at another source and for some reason the fire doesn't spread.

As for Jenny Randles this is her background. She isn't some under educated paranormal investigator. Her opinions are her own. She does extensive investigations on all sorts of things and comes up with her own conclusion having done so. This is an excerpt from Wiki listed under her name.

Randles specializes in writing books on UFOs and paranormal phenomena. To date 50 of these have been published, ranging from her first UFOs: A British Viewpoint (1979) to Breaking the Time Barrier: The race to build the first time machine (2005). Subjects covered include crop circles, ESP, life after death, time anomalies and spontaneous human combustion.

According to her publishers, Simon & Schuster, Randles studied physics and geology at university, has written articles for New Scientist, and has sold more than 1.5 million copies of her fifty published books.[1] It was stated in 1997 that her books had been published in 24 countries.[2]

The same source states that she was the story consultant to the ITV TV series Strange But True? that ran between 1993 and 1997, and that she has also done documentary work for the BBC.[2]

Jenny Randles is a regular contributor to the magazines Fortean Times and The Skeptic and has spoken at the UnConvention.

She was editor of Northern UFO News (a 12-20 page A5 journal detailing UFO activity within Northern England) from 1974 up to 2001.

I personally don't have any opinion but I don't think discrediting someone with other views makes a case for the skeptics either.

This has been mentiond before the Candle wick affect.
I don't need to go in to discription or copy wiki pedia.
The candle wick affect is a proven fact I have done it with a pig fetus While I was studing Forensics I wanted to become a CSI agent but at the time I took the course the CSI unit did not exist.Only options were crime lab,Anthorpology(bones of the old)And forensic Pathology.But In 20 so years all these have lead to CSI classes.So my studies have proven And no ammount of mind concentraition or pyromancy will make you explode.
The human body has its own fuel still an inconclusive reason to why it happens in all cases.I will how ever stick to the candle wick conclusion.

This was really interesting to read.
SHC is something that is always heard about but never actually seen, an urban legend of sorts.
People always told me it was from clothes creating static shocks within our body and then touching say a door handle that created a domino effect inside the body thus ignition.
There is no scientific facts behind this its just what was told to me by random people.

Its all just an Urban Myth.
How come when a persons temperature gets to near 104'f to 105'f their heads don't explode into flames?

I have not heard of Human Combustion I have read about it. Just because I havent heard of it happening doesnt mean it doesnt.

I have seen items burst into flames without getting a ignition source placed on them.

When things are wet and they are left if the heat builds up enough these items can burst into flames depending on what the item is.

You can pick up an item that is wet and you can feel the heat in them, so it could happen. Although highly unlikely for a human but there is always that possibility.

i cant say its an impossability but all things in this world are possible i have seen some strange things and this being an urban legend and all who knows if it has some truth to it

Because it hasn't reached the boiling point. The internal temp is 8.1 degrees higher than the reading.
Kinda gives new meaning to the term "Blood boiling"

i think its a chemical reaction to certain foods mixed up