Spontaneous Human Combustion

Imagine sitting alone in the middle of a park. There's nothing nearby, no electricity, no gas, nothing that could possibly ignite. All of a sudden, your body bursts into flames. Sounds crazy, right? Maybe not as crazy as you think. Spontaneous human combustion is one of greatest mysteries of our world. Once, it was relegated to the pages of pseudoscience, just another baseless conspiracy theory. But the truth is a little more complicated than that. No one can deny the fact that many people have randomly ignited for no apparent reason, and there are simply too many reported incidents to ignore. So what causes spontaneous combustion, and what are some of the most notable stories of spontaneous combustion? Let's find out. Also known simply as SHC, spontaneous human combustion is when people catch fire for no apparent reason. People often die due to these incidents, while others manage to escape with serious injuries. No one is quite sure why it happens, although many researchers believe that the fire actually originates from inside the victim. While many people assume that this is a relatively new conspiracy theory, people have been taking it seriously since the 1700s. The death of Countess Cornelia Zangari Bandi in 1731 was one of the first known cases of spontaneous combustion. During the night of March 14th that year, this Italian noblewoman somehow caught fire in her bedroom and was reduced to a pile of ashes. Only her legs and the top of her skull remained, and no one could figure out exactly how she had died. The rest of the furniture was completely untouched, suggesting the fire was somehow contained specifically to the woman's body. It should also be noted that the countess was a brandy drinker, and some say she sprinkled liquor on her body to relieve pain. In 1885, Matilda Rooney spontaneously combusted in Illinois. The fire was very fast, and within moments, her entire body had been incinerated, except for her feet. She was standing alone in the kitchen when it happened, and there was no notable source of ignition. The fire was so intense that the fume suffocated and killed her husband in the next room. The strange thing is that nothing else in the house was burned. Once again, it seemed as though the fire was confined to her body. There are many other accounts of spontaneous combustion from this time period, but one has to take them with a grain of salt. After all, our understanding of science hundreds of years ago is not what it is today, but what about modern instances of spontaneous combustion? As it turns out, many people have died from this phenomenon in recent times, and these incidents are perhaps even harder to explain. In 1951, the remains of Mary Reeser were found in Florida. Like the countess, her remains were little more than a pile of ash. Although one leg was mysteriously unharmed. The FBI ultimately concluded that the fire had been caused by a cigarette, although many people still believe that it was a case of SHC. In 1970, an Irish woman was found incinerated in her home. Only her feet remained. Again, no one could figure out how she had died, and the rest of her surroundings were essentially untouched. In 1980, another victim was found in South Wales, and aside from his legs and skull, the rest of his body was just a pile of ash. In 2010, Michael Faraday passed away in Ireland under extremely mysterious circumstances. It was clear that he had been incinerated, but there was no obvious cause. This case was unique because the coroners actually wrote spontaneous combustion on Faraday's death certificate. One of the most recent cases of spontaneous combustion occurred when a German woman randomly caught fire while sitting in a park. The incident occurred in 2015, and the victim managed to survive. A witness reported seeing flames burst from inside her body. This witness then rushed over and tried to put the fire out with his jacket. Although he saved her life, the victim suffered severe burns over her entire body. This is one of the few times spontaneous combustion has been witnessed first hand. Strangely, the woman did not make any sound as her body was engulfed by flames, and this is apparently common amongst those who experience it. With no real answers to provide the public, German police suggested that this might have been a suicide attempt. Those are just a few of the most well-known cases of spontaneous combustion, but many other people have died under similar circumstances. According to mainstream science, spontaneous combustion is impossible. There is nothing inside the body that could ignite in such a violent manner, and even high concentrations of alcohol would not be enough to cause these fires. After an extensive investigation, researchers found that most of the victims shared various characteristics. For example, these individuals were almost all elderly, and they often engaged in heavy alcohol consumption. Furthermore, mainstream researchers have suggested that there might be sources of ignition that were overlooked, such as lamps and cigarettes. The most commonly held belief is that spontaneous combustion can be explained by the wick effect. You see, when your body catches fire, your fat starts to melt. This melted human fat is then soaked up by your clothing, and in some cases, a chair or a bed. Essentially, this turns you into a human candle, allowing you to burn for long periods of time. The longer you burn, the more fat is melted, and the cyclical process continues until your body is reduced to a pile of nothing. While mainstream science dismisses the possibility of alcohol catching fire inside a person's body, they do say that intoxication could play a role in the phenomenon. For example, someone who is extremely drunk might not notice when they drop a lit cigarette in their lap. By the time they notice what's happening, it's too late to stop the flames. So, what about the conspiracy theories? Larry E. Arnold suggested in 1995 that spontaneous combustion might be caused by something called a pyrotron in the human body. Some say that consuming too much alcohol could indeed cause spontaneous fires in some cases, while others claim that this phenomenon could be caused by excessive stress. There are even those who allege spontaneous combustion is caused by ghosts. John Abrahamson proposed that ball lightning could be the true culprit. During the Victorian times, early scientists suggested that spontaneous human combustion could be triggered by an imbalance of the bodily humors. At the end of the day, we just don't know what causes spontaneous combustion. Even mainstream scientists are at a loss when attempting to explain some of these incidents, some of which are truly mind-boggling. Perhaps the only thing we can do is throw our hands up in the air and accept the truth. This is one of the greatest mysteries of our reality, and perhaps we will never unlock the secret behind spontaneous human combustion.