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Almost certainly no
- The answer is almost certainly no. None of the proposed scientific explanations for how a body would spontaneously burst into flames have held up to scrutiny. Some of the early proposed mechanisms rely on outdated medical ideas, such as the notion that an ignition could be the result of an imbalance of the bodily humors.
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Now for the important question: Is spontaneous human combustion real? Is the possibility of suddenly bursting into flames one more thing for us all to worry about? The answer is almost certainly no.
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For several centuries, people have debated whether human beings can spontaneously combust, or burst into flames without being ignited by an external source. Though the first known accounts of spontaneous human combustion (SHC) date all the way back to 1641, the phenomenon gained wider exposure in the 19th century after popular author Charles Dickens used it to kill off one of the characters in his novel “Bleak House.”
When critics accused Dickens of legitimizing something that didn’t exist, he pointed to research showing 30 historical cases. More recently, cases of SHC have been suspected when police and fire department officials have found burned corpses with unscathed furniture around them. For instance, an Irish coroner ruled that spontaneous combustion caused the 2010 death of 76-year-old Michael Faherty, whose badly burned body was discovered near a fireplace in a room with virtually no fire damage.
Because the human body is composed mostly of water and its only highly flammable properties are fat tissue and methane gas, the possibility of SHC being an actual phenomenon seems remote. Many scientists dismiss the theory, arguing that an undetected flame source such as a match or cigarette is the real culprit in suspected cases. Typically, deceased victims are found close to a fire source, and evidence suggests that many of them accidentally set themselves on fire while smoking or trying to light a flame.
On the other hand, believers point to the fact that the human body has to reach a temperature of roughly 3,000 degrees in order to be reduced to ashes. Unless SHC were a genuine factor, it seems impossible that furniture would not burn as well. Proposed causes of the supposed phenomenon include bacteria, static electricity, obesity, stress and—most consistently—excessive consumption of alcohol, but none have been substantiated by science so far.
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Learn about the debate over whether human beings can spontaneously combust, or burst into flames without being ignited by an external source. Explore the historical accounts, the suspected cases and the proposed causes of this paranormal phenomenon.
Spontaneous human combustion (SHC) is the pseudoscientific concept of the spontaneous combustion of a living (or recently deceased) human body without an apparent external source of ignition. In addition to reported cases, descriptions of the alleged phenomenon appear in literature, and both types have been observed to share common ...
Dec 17, 2022 · While human combustion is plausible and accurate to several accounts, he said, the idea that it happens spontaneously is a misnomer: "Yes, people's bodies burn, but there's absolutely no proof...
- Paola Rosa-Aquino
Mar 24, 2024 · Learn about the history, cases, and possible explanations of spontaneous human combustion, a baffling phenomenon that has fascinated and terrified people for centuries. Find out why scientists are skeptical of this phenomenon and how it may be related to alcohol, cigarettes, and accidents.
Sep 21, 2023 · Learn about the history, theories and evidence of spontaneous human combustion, a phenomenon that allegedly causes people to catch fire from within with no apparent cause. Find out why most scientists are skeptical of this claim and what are the possible explanations for the cases of alleged SHC.
Dec 19, 2013 · The phenomenon is called spontaneous human combustion (SHC), and it has been described in many popular books on mysteries and the unexplained. Though the term "spontaneous human combustion" is of...
