Spontaneous Human Combustion
The Legend - A Brief History - Types of SHC - Theories - Some Explanations
Chronology - Notes - Bibliography
Theories
The initial beliefs as to the causes of spontaneous combustion were very straight forward; if a person explodes, then it was "a visitation of God," and therefore some form of divine punishment. But as a more scientific thought pattern arose in Europe, the need for a more down to earth answer did also.
The main argument around the issue of Spontaneous Human Combustion actually comes down to a simple point... is a human body combustible? Sure, under the right conditions a human body burns, but this is not the same as being combustible; to combust, the body must be consumed by flames and heat, and reduced to ashes in an explosively short time.
Scientifically it must be stated that, yes, there are conditions under which the human body will combust; but all of these circumstances require extreme external conditions to help, be it high temperatures (like sitting in a burning vehicle or furnace) or the use of accelerants (such as gasoline and kerosene). The mystery to SHC is the apparent lack of these external causes to the combustion; in true cases of SHC, the only ignition source that logic can dictate is the body itself. At this time, there is no scientifically known reason why a human body would combust, much less self-ignite... but there have been a lot of guesses.
In the 1700's and 1800's, the popular belief was that SHC was caused by excessive imbibing of alcoholic beverages, the theory being that these combustible fluids would saturate the body making it likely to burst into flames at the slightest spark. Unfortunately, a close examination of the cases involved revealed that many of the victims were not alcoholics; besides which, a human being would die from alcohol poisoning long before they became any more combustible. So something else had to be at work.
Farmers know that haystacks will sometimes burst into flame for no apparent reason; so could this be a clue to the nature of SHC? The answer, unfortunately, is no. The haystack combustion is scientifically understood... bacteria in the middle of the haystack are given the optimum conditions for survival, and so reproduce uncontrollably until their collective body heat is enough to ignite the dry straw. The conditions that allow this do not exist within an animal's body, and if they did there still wouldn't be combustion for the simple reason that a living body is not as easily combustible as dry straw. A human would die from the bacterial invasion long before the body became abnormally hot.
Another theory is implied by the authors of Strange Stories, Amazing Facts. In their article about SHC entitled Inner Fires, they spend a great deal of space discussing the theories of Prof. Robin Beach (now deceased) of the Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute regarding human buildups of massive charges of static electricity. While it is made clear that Prof. Beach believed that certain people could build up enough of a static charge to accidentally light combustible materials, neither Prof. Beach nor the authors of the article state that they believe there is a connection to SHC. It seems clear that the whole point of Prof. Beach's research, however, is to show that the human body can hold incredibly high charges of static charge without being harmed, and the authors themselves admit that electrical engineers have pointed out that no known form of electrostatic discharge could cause a human to burst into flames.
Other theories include the idea that the electrical fields that exist within the human body might be capable of 'short circuiting' somehow, that some sort of atomic chain reaction could generate tremendous internal heat, that "geomagnetic fluctuations" cause the phenomena, or that an explosive combination of chemicals can form in the digestive system, fueled by a poor diet. This last theory is seen by Jenny Randles (in her book Strange & Unexplained Mysteries of the 20th Century) as a possible explanation for one interesting feature of SHC... the lack of known cases of spontaneous combustion in animals and non-European descendent societies. Randles explains this discrepancy as being a factor of diet that Europeans and Americans share.
Many investigators make the mistake of trying to 'explain' SHC with other scientifically unproven phenomena. In the January 1982 issue of Frontiers of Science (according to The Encyclopedia of Unsolved Mysteries), Larry Arnold suggested that SHC may be associated with 'ley lines' -- theoretical lines of 'earth force' that run across the globe. The existence of these lines was first suggested by one Alfred Watkins who, it is said, discovered a pattern in the location of a number of places called "Brent" (old English for 'burnt'). Larry Arnold drew a dozen or so ley lines on a map of England and compared the results to the locations of mystery fires. Through this comparative method, he claimed to have identified what he called 'fire-leynes' -- one of which is 400 miles long, and runs through five towns where (at the time) ten mysterious blazes had occurred. This same 'fire-leyne' was said by Arnold to have had several spontaneous combustions along it; he cited four cases which occurred on it between 1852 and 1908.
In his book Fire From Heaven (also according to The Encyclopedia of Unsolved Mysteries), Michael Harrison puts forward a wide variety of theories as to causes of these strange fires. Among other things, he attempts to show a connection between SHC and telepathy, kirlien photography and auras, human magnets, geography, and 'ritual dancing' all to try to prove his theory of a connection between extreme emotional states and SHC.
So far, no scientifically provable theory can account for Spontaneous Human Combustion, which has lead many to suggest an alternative theory by means of "explaination;" so-called "Preternatural Combustibility." Proponents of the PC theory state that while there is no circumstance under which a human would self-ignite, there are certain people who are capable of combusting if exposed to the right conditions and ignited. No one has found a way to prove this can happen yet, and so the 'preternatural combustibility' theory has as large a question mark over it as does 'spontaneous human combustion' at the moment.
However... what if the 'combustion' isn't as 'spontaneous' as it seems?
Next: Some Explainations
