History & Photos About Spontaneous Human Combustion

[Black Knight]

It is a fascinating subject. Part of the reason why I never fart while pumping gas!

[rottenflesh]

Awesome subject,

[petedeamon]

I read about this effect many years ago but haven't heard about any other unfortunates igniting on their own without the use of a combustible substance. I have seen those pictures before but I was under the impression the action was extremely quick.

[kik]

Originally Posted by petedeamon

I read about this effect many years ago but haven't heard about any other unfortunates igniting on their own without the use of a combustible substance. I have seen those pictures before but I was under the impression the action was extremely quick.

My first encounter with those images and a very brief read gave me the exact same impression, mainly because nothing else was burnt I assumed a 'flash burn' type of encounter.

I was 11 or 12 when I first saw images like these in a book called "Strange truths strange stories and amazing facts, or something along those lines, I am 45 now so my mind is going LOL.

It had always intrigued me and I stopped research once I was satisfied with an answer, now I have this whole and "poof she was gone" story bouncing around my head, yet still I can find nothing to support that kind of expedient SHC or wick effect.

Well nothing that sits right in my head, perhaps if I was a Scientologist I could believe some....actually all the stories out there :)

[Karma]

Originally Posted by kik

Helen Conway. Image #3.
Helen Conway's remains 1964, Delaware County, Pennsylvania

Conway was an elderly, infirm woman who was a heavy and careless smoker. (There were many cigarette burns in her room.) She burned up while sitting in an upholstered chair in her bedroom. Why is this considered SHC? The fire chief said that's what he believed. He also said it only took 21 minutes for her to burn.* If it did, the wick effect would not account for how she burned. (Arnold uses some sort of "deduction" to figure out that it may have taken only six minutes for Conway's body to be consumed.) Since they can't figure out how Conway burned up in such a short time, both Arnold and Milton conclude it was probably SHC.

Joe Nickell speculates that the fire "may have begun at the base of the seated body and burned straight upward, fed by the fat in the torso, and may have thus been a much more intense fire - not unlike grease fires that all who cook are familiar with. Indeed, in searching through the dense smoke for the victim, an assistant chief sank his hand "into something greasy" that proved to be the woman's remains."*

Milton's research in this area is limited almost exclusively to Larry Arnold's book Ablaze!: The Mysterious Fires of Spontaneous Human Combustion, a book which features a blurb from Maury Povich on its back cover. Paranormal investigator Joe Nickell refers to this work as Spontaneous Human Nonsense.

The stories that Milton posts on his web site reveal his willingness to be dazzled by speculations about SHC. It is true that the examples he has chosen can't be explained by the wick effect because they are all of cases where the person in flames is come upon within a relatively short time of being on fire. The wick effect requires hours of slow burning. However, the evidence that any of these cases is actually a case of spontaneous human combustion is flimsy at best.

It would appear that the position of the body has a great deal to do with the expediency of which a body is consumed, perhaps this is the reason the lady was "just a short time later...poof...gone".

Still it appears the minimum time required for a non total burn is 5 hours.

Further reading tomorrow, eyes hurt 3:30 am OUCH!.

I am glad you enjoyed my scientific analogy.

Great info. Have a refreshing sleep.

[Jordy Death]

Gorey yet informational...I fucking love this site!

[kik]

Originally Posted by Karma

I am glad you enjoyed my scientific analogy.

Karma could you please try and find out more details on the subject matter you raised, I cannot for the life of me find anything that stands up in the way of "poof she's gone" LMAO!, that's not to say I don't believe what you are saying, not in the slightest, I just cannot find the case in point.

Sometimes a funny analogy is the one that stands out the most, so yes I enjoyed your scientific brief.
I just require more info to help try and put the matter to rest.

Originally Posted by Karma

Great info. Have a refreshing sleep.

I did and thank you.

[loveless]

Wow!!!!

[wagswayz]

kinda suspicious that the first and last picture just happens to have their head IN A FIREPLACE!lol

[kik]

Not suspicious they are of the same person, just taken from different angles and film stock.