Spontaneous human combustion (SHC) is too well reported to be 'Fortean' anymore. It may not be properly understood as yet, but it undoubtedly occurs.
Normally it occurs indoors, and involves the smoking of cigarettes, with
the imbibing of alcohol, which often means that these factors are blamed as the cause.
But the truth is that if being drunk and smoking was enough to cause people to set fire to themselves in some bizarre manner, with the alcohol in their system acting as an accelerator, then it should happen far more often.
However there was an unusual event occurred in Tottenham, North London on September the 17th, 2017, when a 70 year old man, started burning on a busy London street. The pensioner was a retired Irish construction worker, named later as John Nolan, who had been on an afternoon walk, appeared to passers-bys to burst into flame ... they tried to put the flames out, but found it difficult.
Although he was airlifted to a specialist burns hospital, he sadly died with 65 per cent burns on his body. The fire brigade said that they could find no accelerant on or in his body, and police confirmed he had no enemies, and that he had been alone when the event took place.
Sceptics, can no doubt explain the phenomena away .... but cases like this make it very difficult to do so 100 per cent.
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| SHC - Traditional View Of The Scene Of One |
But the truth is that if being drunk and smoking was enough to cause people to set fire to themselves in some bizarre manner, with the alcohol in their system acting as an accelerator, then it should happen far more often.
However there was an unusual event occurred in Tottenham, North London on September the 17th, 2017, when a 70 year old man, started burning on a busy London street. The pensioner was a retired Irish construction worker, named later as John Nolan, who had been on an afternoon walk, appeared to passers-bys to burst into flame ... they tried to put the flames out, but found it difficult.
Although he was airlifted to a specialist burns hospital, he sadly died with 65 per cent burns on his body. The fire brigade said that they could find no accelerant on or in his body, and police confirmed he had no enemies, and that he had been alone when the event took place.
Sceptics, can no doubt explain the phenomena away .... but cases like this make it very difficult to do so 100 per cent.
Considering the amount of water in a human body I have to remain skeptical. If there are any genuine cases their precise conditions must be out of the ordinary.
ReplyDeleteFacts are facts .... the story related is on many newspaper and news sites. As indeed are other SHC cases. I don't know which way the science falls but these events keep cropping up and indeed since at least 1798 when the novel Wieland by Charles Brockden Brown,mentions he phenomena.
DeleteA recent report by research scientist Professor Brian Ford showed that most explanations of SHC such as alcohol soaked body cells, or the wick effect don't explain the phenomena.
DeleteHowever he did experiment with cells where a high build up of acetone had occurred. This is known as 'Ketosis' and happens with some diabetics, alcoholics, and the very elderly with multiple conditions.
He found that only body cells in this state will burn very readily, but that in 99.999 per cent of people in this state of Ketosis, they are not in danger of self combustion. But for an incredibly small number of people, their bodies are primed to burn, and given the right external ignition stimulant would burn freely ... he believes this could result in what appears as spontaneous human combustion.