Spontaneous Human Combustion(SHC)
This was included in the stream of “Paranormal Incidents.”
What is a Paranormal
Incident ?
The word consists of two parts: Para and
Normal. The definition implies that the scientific explanation of the world
around us is normal and anything that is above, beyond, or contrary to that is “Para”.
Scientific Overview
Combustion
Combustion refers to the process where a substance burns in the presence of Oxygen, giving off heat and light in the process.
In
chemistry, a fuel is a substance that, when burned (or combusted),
releases a usable amount of energy, typically in the form of heat. This
process involves a chemical reaction with an oxidizer, most commonly oxygen,
where the fuel's stored chemical energy is converted into thermal energy.
In combustion, flame color is
directly related to the temperature and the chemical composition of the fuel,
as well as the presence of soot or other particles. Blue flames indicate the hottest, most complete combustion, while
yellow, orange, and red flames suggest cooler temperatures and less efficient
burning.
SHC
A pseudoscientific
concept that a human body can ignite and burn without an apparent external
source of ignition. While the idea has been discussed in literature for
centuries, scientific evidence does not support it.
Case Study
Unresolved Confusion
Can a cigarette absolutely make a fire
which can able to burn a human completely?
Case 2
Argaret Hogan, an 89-year-old widow who
lived alone in a house on Prussia Street, Dublin, Ireland, was found burned almost to the point of complete
destruction on 28 March 1970. Plastic flowers on a table in the centre of the
room had been reduced to liquid and a television with a melted screen sat 12
feet from the armchair in which the ashen remains were found; otherwise, the
surroundings were almost untouched. Her two feet, and both legs from below the
knees, were undamaged. A small coal fire had been burning in the grate when a
neighbor left the house the previous day; however, no connection between this
fire and that in which Mrs. Hogan died could be found. An inquest, held on 3
April 1970, recorded death by burning, with the cause of the fire listed as
"unknown".
Unresolved Confusion
The television and plastic flowers
were completely converted into liquid. Why do other areas of surrounding
remained untouched?
Case 3
Jeanne Lucille Saffin (20
March 1921[1] – 23
September 1982) was a British woman whose death from fire in 1982 is cited
by paranormal researchers
and authors as an example of spontaneous human
combustion, and is reported to be the most recent suspected case in the
UK.[2] Aspects
of the reports made immediately after her injury and death apparently supported
the conclusion that her death was due to spontaneous human combustion.
Case 4
Henry Thomas, a 73-year-old man, was found burned to death in the living room of his council house on the Rassau estate in Ebbw Vale, South Wales, in 1980. Most of his body was incinerated, leaving only his skull and part of each leg below the knee. The feet and legs were still clothed in socks and trousers. Half of the chair in which he had been sitting was also destroyed.
Case 5
In December 2010, the death of Michael Faherty, a 76-year-old man in County Galway, Ireland,
was recorded as "spontaneous combustion" by the coroner. The doctor,
Ciaran McLoughlin, made this statement at the inquiry into the death:
"This fire was thoroughly investigated and I'm left with the conclusion
that this fits into the category of spontaneous human combustion, for which
there is no adequate explanation.
(Case details were taken from Wikipedia -Wikipedia
Contributors. “Spontaneous Human Combustion.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia
Foundation,21 Apr. 2025. )
In world history,
there have been more than 200 such cases reported.
Why does it become under the Paranormal incidents
Spontaneous
human combustion is often associated with paranormal incidents due to its
seemingly inexplicable nature and lack of readily apparent causes. While
some historical accounts and fictional works have portrayed it as a
supernatural event, modern science attributes most observed cases to the
"wick effect," where a combination of flammable materials (like
clothing) and an external ignition source (like a cigarette or electrical
spark) can create the illusion of spontaneous burning.
Main Scientific Explanations
In studying the
cases in detail all cases have same confusions.If we listed out them,
1.
How can a fire start without the
proper fuel to start it?
2.
How do you create a blue flame and
high-temperature derived by a fire caused by a cigarette?
3.
Why didn't that fire spread to a
wider area in most cases? In most reported cases, it was limited to the
deceased man mostly ?
4.
Why didn't they run away from the scene or
even scream for help after the fire started?
The "wick
effect" hypothesis suggests that a small external flame
source,such as a burning cigarette, chars the clothing of the victim at a
location, splitting the skin and releasing subcutaneous fat, which is
in turn absorbed into the burned clothing, acting as a wick.
This combustion can continue for as long as the fuel
is available. This hypothesis has been successfully tested with pig tissue and
is consistent with evidence recovered from cases of human combustion.
The human body typically has enough stored energy in
fat and other chemical
stores to fully combust the body; even lean people have several pounds of fat
in their tissues. This fat, once heated by the burning clothing, wicks into the
clothing much as candle wax is drawn into a lit candle
wick, providing the fuel needed to keep the wick burning. The protein in
the body also burns, but provides less energy than fat,with the water in the
body being the main impediment to combustion. However, slow combustion,
lasting hours, gives the water time to evaporate
slowly. In an enclosed area, such as a house, this moisture will recondense
nearby, possibly on windows. Feet don't typically burn because they often have the least fat; hands
also have little fat, but may burn if resting on the abdomen, which provides
all of the necessary fat for combustion.
1982.sep.15, Jenny Saffin(Case 3) incident,her father had given the witnesses that, “She was burned by blue flames that came out from inside her body”.Here we need to concern about this flame colour. Blue flames typically reach temperatures between 2500°C to 3000°C, or 4532°F to 5432°F. These high temperatures are associated with efficient combustion, where the fuel is completely burned with sufficient oxygen. Examples of blue flames include those produced by Bunsen burners or oven hobs. Could be a cigerrate like a little thing make such a high temperature?
Almost all postulated cases of SHC involve people with
low mobility due to
advanced age or obesity, along with poor health.In all mentioned cases
above 60 years (except of thehe case of Beatrice Oczki 1979,51years old)
Victims show a high likelihood of having died in their sleep,
or of having been unable
to move once they had caught fire.
Here that was explainable to some extend for their
stable posture ,because they had remained in the same position and place even
after the fire broke out.Or the other explanation , at that moment those people
might not be in concious mind ,it could be a sleep or some state where the awareness was not with them.
Anyway you can understand that ,those
explanations are not abled to explain the phenomena completely…So it could be
something out of our physical frame as well as a incident still could not be
clarified by Our Science.In future ,we might get a better scientific
explaination.
Thank You.
Comments
Post a Comment