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Terry Austin
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Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2005 | 02:32 PM
It's been explained, and demonstrated in a documentary by the BBC.
If a person who is clothed, or covered with a blanket, starts a small fire, and is either unconscious or unable to put the fire out, the heat of the small fire will start to melt the fat in their flesh. the melted fat then seeps in to the cloth covering them, in the same way melted wax in a candle seeps up the wick, and the victim becomes, basically, a human candle. They will burn for hours, consuming even the bones.
The filmed experiment took seven hours, and produced results indistinguishable from any of the classic spontaneous human combustion cases.
<a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/158853.stm">http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/158853.stm</a> |
Nick
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Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2005 | 04:24 PM
doesn't explain unburnt surroundings- in one case a girls clothes remained totally intact, although subsequent tests revealed that the clothes burned very easily.
in another case a man was found in his home, sitting in an unburnt chair, only his head and feet being left behind. Seemingly, he had literally burnt to death from the outside in. |
Glamcat
Member
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Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2005 | 04:30 PM
It also doesn't explain how the fire gets started. |
Hairy Houdini
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Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2005 | 04:53 PM
beans |
The Curator
in San Diego
Member
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Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2005 | 04:58 PM
I've always wondered if other species experience spontaneous combustion as well. Or is it just a human thing? |
Terry Austin
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Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2005 | 05:08 PM
Actually, all the classic circumstances of SHC can be reproduced with the wick effect, including unburnt clothes.
How the fire starts is irrelevant. A dropped cigarette, or tipped over candle, and any of a thousand other perfectly ordinary accidents. |
Ga
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Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2005 | 05:57 PM
Yeah, I have to agree with Hairy on this one, but I'll go so far as to add cabbage to his beans. 😊 |
Hairy Houdini
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Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2005 | 06:57 PM
He who ferments the passed is doomed to reheat it. |
Glamcat
Member
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Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2005 | 07:17 PM
Kinda like heartburn. I wonder if a Tums would put out the fire.
It's definitely a very strange phenomenon. Even stranger, on that page, is a link to something ever weirder that I've never even heard of,
Spontaneous Human Involuntary Invisibility! http://www.crystalinks.com/hsii.html
This is very bizarre! Has anyone heard of this before? |
Glamcat
Member
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Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2005 | 07:49 PM
http://www.alternativescience.com/spontaneous-human-combustion-burning-issue.htm
This is very interesting. Talks about the BBC test, the wick effect and why the experiment was actually pseudoscientific and misleading.
For example, in some of the documented cases, the bodies were totally consumed within a matter of minutes, not hours as the wick effect suggests.
"Almost incredibly, the reporters who made the film and the scientists who took part in it, chose to ignore completely the fact that there are a number of recent, well-documented cases of people who have experienced or witnessed spontaneous human combustion at first hand and who lived to tell what happened. And the first-hand experience of these witnesses completely contradicts the key features of the 'scientific explanation' in every detail."
I find this pretty fascinatng. I too wonder, Alex, if human beings are the only ones to experience this. But then it wouldn't be called SHC.
Also, it's interesting that it is usually women (probably b/c of their higher body fat), and that it always occurs indoors. Hmmm. |
Glamcat
Member
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Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2005 | 08:48 PM
http://www.randi.org/jr/031502.html
Scroll down the page a bit on this link.
Yet another viewpoint, the Amazing Randi. You can probably already guess what he thinks.
I asked a friend of mine, who is a nurse, what she thought and she said SHC is urban legend.
According to Randi's article, this only seems to happen in America and Great Britian. Interesting. Apparently you have to speak English in order to spontaneously combust. |
andymusicnyc
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Posted: Sat Feb 19, 2005 | 03:11 PM
"Apparently, you have to speak English to spontaneously combust"...
It also helps if you're the drummer of a rock band. |
Myst
Member
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Posted: Sat Feb 19, 2005 | 10:03 PM
I'm going to test a theory. I'm going to drag my feet around on the carpet and see if I can generate enough static electricity to cause myself to spontaneously combust. If you don't hear from me after tomorrow you will know it worked. :cheese: |
The Curator
in San Diego
Member
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Posted: Sat Feb 19, 2005 | 11:10 PM
For the love of God, Myst. Don't do it! |
Myst
Member
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Posted: Sat Feb 19, 2005 | 11:42 PM
Well I do live in dry Colorado, I could cause a very nasty bolt of static electricity if I get carried away, Hmmmm I shall have to be very careful.
Don't worry Alex, I am sure I will be fine. But just in case I plan on playing the song "Disco Inferno". I will go out in a blaze of disco glory! 😉 |
The Curator
in San Diego
Member
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Posted: Sat Feb 19, 2005 | 11:46 PM
just can't stop
when my spark gets hot... |
Myst
Member
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Posted: Sun Feb 20, 2005 | 12:15 AM
burn baby
burn it..... |
Maegan
in Tampa, FL - USA
Member
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Posted: Sun Feb 20, 2005 | 05:56 AM
There was a CSI episode about this. They burned a pig in a nightgown. It still didn't prove that SHC doesn't exist...just that cigarettes can kill you.
I have to agree w/ Randi about only English-speaking people combusting spontaneously. I've never heard of a German combusting.
This is probably one of those things that will never officially be proven or un-proven. If it happens to someone, they would be dead. They wouldn't be able to get on the evening news and talk about it. There don't seem to be any witnesses (usually the first sign of a hoax...) but that can be explained away by the fact that the witnesses are probably combusting right along with their English-speaking friends.
Or...it's only the non-English speaking people who are witnessing it & have found a way to prevent it. Not speaking English means that they are unable to share their findings w/ the English speaking populations. |
Myst
Member
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Posted: Sun Feb 20, 2005 | 02:58 PM
The static electricity theory is out. I'm still here. 😜 |
Glamcat
Member
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Posted: Sun Feb 20, 2005 | 05:26 PM
I'm so glad you're still here Myst! Did you feel anything? Were you alone in the house, b/c you know, most of the victims seem to have been alone in their homes. It might not work if you're not alone. Also, having alcohol in your system seems to help. Did you have a drink before you tried it? Maybe you should get good and drunk and have another go. All in the name of science, of course. Then again, if you combusted, we wouldn't know about it would we? There would just be an empty space where there used to be a Myst. That would be terribly sad.
:down: |
Glamcat
Member
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Posted: Sun Feb 20, 2005 | 05:28 PM
I tried the Spontaneous Human Involuntary Invisibility, but I'm not sure if it worked. You can't see me, can you?
Hey, maybe it did work.
😛 |
Myst
Member
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Posted: Sun Feb 20, 2005 | 08:27 PM
Hmmmm OK Get husband out of the house for the day and drink the bottle of Irish Creme in the fridge. Drag feet across the carpet then touch metal to see if I spontaneously combust. I wonder, would pets being here effect the outcome?
Oh and I can still see you Glamcat. 😛 |
Glamcat
Member
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Posted: Mon Feb 21, 2005 | 04:17 AM
Sounds like a plan, especially the Irish Cream part! Maybe I'll try it too. How do you get the husband out of the house for the day though? Hmmmm
After drinking a bottle of Baileys, if I didn't spontaneously combust, I think my stomach would burst! Is there a term for that? Not to mention the guilt of all those calories. I think I would hope it worked at that point.
Keep us posted on your experiment Myst. I think it's a worthy task. We will report your findings to the scientific community.
:cheese: |
ted2
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Posted: Mon Feb 21, 2005 | 10:25 PM
Oh cool, the submit word was 'fire'. Hmmm, might be prophetic.
The first documented cases where in France. So much for Mr Randi theory. |
Rachel Drapeur
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Posted: Tue Feb 22, 2005 | 12:11 PM
Human beings are always producing heat in each cell in the body. Maybe SHC is caused by a malfunction where the body keeps producing heat until it burns itself up. Just one of my theories.
Is that your cat you're holding Alex in San Diego? Can't quite see what you're holding in that picture. |
The Curator
in San Diego
Member
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Posted: Tue Feb 22, 2005 | 12:32 PM
Rachel, no, that's not even me in the photo. I'm much younger than that. The photo is of Snowball the Monster Cat:
http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/snowball.html |
Glamcat
Member
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Posted: Tue Feb 22, 2005 | 02:48 PM
I wonder if Snowball was rubbed hard and fast enough on the carpet if he would spontaneously combust? He certainly has the fat content to burn!
😝
(I'm sorry Snowball!) |
Nettie
in Perth, Western Australia
Member
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Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2005 | 12:35 AM
I have a book called The Unexplained by a chick called Jenny Randles who touches on this briefly. There are three other theories outside of the wick effect. They are atomic chain reactions inside the human body causing enormous amounts of heat, short circuiting electrical fields of the human body and most interestingly, a deadly cocktail of chemicals that form in the stomach which becomes flammable. This is due to the poor diet of many westerners and explains why non english speaking people never SHC and also why animals are not known to SHC.
interesting wot? |
Glamcat
Member
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Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2005 | 05:01 AM
What's in this deadly cocktail? I don't want to drink it by accident!
Myst, are you still there? |
Glamcat
Member
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Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2005 | 06:38 AM
Myst! OMG! Myst! Are you OK? Are you still there!!! For the love of God, please answer!!!
:ahhh: |
Charybdis
in Hell
Member
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Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2005 | 09:19 AM
Friends, Hoaxers, countrymen, lend me your ears;
I come to bury Myst, not to praise her.
The evil that women do lives after them;
The good is oft interred with their bones:
So let it be with Myst. The noble Glamcat
Hath told you Myst was ambitious:
If it were so, it was a grievous fault;
And grievously hath Myst answer'd it.
Here, under leave of Glamcat and the rest,-
For Glamcat is an honourable woman;
So are they all, all honorable women... |
Sharruma
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Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2005 | 11:37 AM
I've yet to see a cow burst into flames
And I've heard they are far more combustable |
Mark-N-Isa
in Midwest USA
Member
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Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2005 | 11:44 AM
Sharruma,
Try throwing one on the grill... they'll burst into flames quite easily. 😊 What might not be so easy would be throwing a whole cow on the grill, that's why you piece it down first. 😉 |
X
in McKinney, TX
Member
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Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2005 | 12:05 PM
You will need two things to cook a cow on the grill. A ramp and a lawyer. Instead of carrying the cow, let it walk, I recommend not killing the cow yet, they walk much easier when alive. Next, lead it up the ramp on the heavy duty grill you bought at The Home depot. Then, when the cow isn't looking, just as the moon is full, (They sleep standing up), sets the cow on fire. Hopefully the cow won't notice this.
Now, when PETA shows up during your meal, get the lawyer, he can hold them off for a while while you enjoy your meal. This and other strategic recipes on request!! |
Myst
Member
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Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2005 | 12:26 PM
I'm still here, Glamcat. After dragging my feet across the carpet a few days ago I realized how dirty my carpet was, I thought maybe that may have been reducing the static build-up so I shampooed my carpets.
I was going to attempt my experiment again today, but after reading about the deadly cocktail I have decided to add something else to the experiment. I am going to fix a big pot of beans. I will then eat the beans and drink a full bottle of Irish Creme. Should be interesting, full of beans, drunk and dragging my feet across the carpet. *Poof* :cheese: |
Glamcat
Member
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Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2005 | 12:29 PM
I'm not sure burning a cow on a grill is quite the same as SHC. Me thinks we've strayed a bit off the path.
Still no word from our beloved Myst! Should we alert the scientific community? Did she combust? Did she prove the the static electricity theory??? I can't stand not knowing!!!
Have there been any other posts from her recently? Oh Myst!!! I'm sorry I encouraged this madness!! Please come back to us!!!
:grrr: |
X
in McKinney, TX
Member
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Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2005 | 12:34 PM
Well, The lawyer would have to tell PETA that it wasn't I that burn't the cow, but it was spontaneous. See, it fits. Anyway I heard that the way it happens has to do with Methane gas and a "Compost" effect. After that, I'm clueless. |
Glamcat
Member
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Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2005 | 12:40 PM
Oh Myst!!! I'm so glad you're OK! What a relief. I like your new idea. I think it's worth a try. If you don't combust I think you'll definitely explode.
Worst case scenario, you'll end up drunk and farting a lot but at least your carpets are clean!
(Unless of course, you explode)
If we only knew what was in that deadly cocktail....... :coolhmm: |
Myst
Member
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Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2005 | 12:44 PM
Thanks for the epitaph, Charybdis, I think.
I'm not evil. http://img2.imagevenue.com/loc34/172d1_teu42.gif
Honest! http://img2.imagevenue.com/loc34/172d1_teu42.gif
Really, I'm not. |
Glamcat
Member
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Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2005 | 12:45 PM
Hmmm, methane and compost. Myst's idea just might be crazy enough to work!! Mwahaha (evil laugh)
:coolgrin: |
Glamcat
Member
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Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2005 | 12:50 PM
That is a "tres appropriate" avatar Myst. I love it!
By the way, how will be know if you combust? Can you put it in your will to have someone post and tell us all the details?
I'm sure I'm not alone in saying we all appreciate the potential sacrifice you're making in the name of science. You are a brave soul Myst. You shall not combust in vain.
:cheese: |
X
in McKinney, TX
Member
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Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2005 | 12:58 PM
Hey, I was the one that said that!!!!! ME, STEPHEN, I said Methane and compost!!!!! Credit is due to me!!!
Oh buy the way, I went to your site, You have an excellent band playing for you!! Sounds great! |
Myst
Member
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Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2005 | 05:46 PM
I have already set it up with my cats. They have agreed that one of them will post a message here. Personally I think they are hoping I will succeed so they can have the house all to themselves. Of course I reminded them that I wouldn't be here to feed them yummy food and brush their fur till it shines.
Thanks for the support, Glamcat.
To spontaneously combust, or not to spontaneously combust, that is the question confronting us. :coolsmirk: |
Glamcat
Member
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Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2005 | 06:15 PM
Stephen, thanks for checking out my site. That actually wasn't a band, just me and my producer multi-tracking. Modern technology.
I didn't mean to not give you credit for the methane & compost comment. I was just relating it to Myst's experiment.
Myst, I've got my finger's crossed for you. I'm actually hoping you don't combust. Maybe you can just combust a little to prove the theory and then get put out so you don't, you know, die.
Your cats can TYPE??!! I'm impressed.
😜 |
Glamcat
Member
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Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2005 | 06:40 PM
Stephen, love your Blog! You're very funny!
Office Space is one of my favorite movies as well.
Thanks again for listening to my music. So, are you going to buy my CD???? (Just kidding, you don't have to)
Let's take a poll on whether or not Myst will spontaneously combust. Vote in with your predictions. Hey, Alex, can you set up one of those polling things? |
X
in McKinney, TX
Member
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Posted: Thu Feb 24, 2005 | 07:56 AM
Thanks for the compliment Glamcat!! Someone actually looked at my Blog. |
Glamcat
Member
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Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2005 | 07:43 PM
Hey Myst! You still there?? Just checking in.
How's the experiment going? Or are you too drunk to write?
:cheese: |
Myst
Member
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Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2005 | 08:49 PM
I'm still here. The bean and irish creme combo didn't work. Wrong kind of carpet I wonder? Oh well, I enjoyed the irish creme! 😉 |
Winona
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Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2005 | 09:04 PM
When I was young, my aunt (who is normally a very sensible person) was absolutely convinced that was how she was going to die. Her reasoning - she has very dry skin, and she thought that was the cause.
No idea if she ever still thinks about it, I just remember her being freaked out by the idea of SHC. |
Winona
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Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2005 | 09:10 PM
....Thinking again about the bit about my aunt being a normally sensible person. She is the one who had warts when she was young, and when my grandmother "bought" them, they all disappeared. So, now she believes that my grandmother's spell worked.
(For reference: buying warts is an old wives tale. My grandmother offered to buy them from my aunt for $0.01, then buried the penny in the garden under a full moon at midnight. No joke. And they did disappear, within a month.) |
Glamcat
Member
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Posted: Sat Feb 26, 2005 | 05:19 AM
Why didn't she sell her dry skin too? |
Glamcat
Member
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Posted: Sat Feb 26, 2005 | 05:36 AM
Well, I guess we need to come up with another theory.
I was reading a book at Barnes & Noble, appropriately called "Spontaneous Human Combustion". Obviously, it caught my eye. It's amazing how many strange, unexplained cases of people mysteriously burning up there have been over the centuries. In the grand sceme of things it's actually very rare, but still, some the cases that are recorded are pretty compelling. The author's surmise that most of them are probably explainable by some outside ignition source and that true SHC is not impossible but extremely rare.
There was one really weird case of two young sisters in England who were a mile away from eachother and spontaneously combusted at the same time and there's no real explanation! Weird. Supposedly, it's a well documented case. SHC or horrible coincedience? Their last name was Kirby and it was in 1899.
Here, I googled it.
http://www.calderdale-online.org/html/community/life8.html |
cassie
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Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2005 | 12:29 AM
hi im doing an assignment on SHC and you guys have some reasonable thoughts on the subject. I was wondering what your social thoughts are on this matter. DO you think that SHC exists and if so why is it a concern to the public.
thank you
cassie |
Glamcat
Member
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Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2005 | 05:55 AM
Hi Cassie. I'm not sure whether or not I believe it exists. If it does, it's not much of a concern to the public b/c it's SO rare. It's not like people are bursting into flames all over the place. There are a lot of unexplained cases, and even some eye witnesses, but over the course of centuries it seems it's only a few hundred people or so from what I can gather.
If you find out any interesting information in your studies, please share it with us.
What kind of assignment is this? |
Maegan
in Tampa, FL - USA
Member
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Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2005 | 08:14 AM
...I had just had to chuckle at something you said, cassie...Reasonable thoughts. Heheheh. It's really too much. |
Myst
Member
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Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2005 | 07:49 PM
Maegan, are you trying to say that one or more of us here don't have reasonable thoughts? I resemble that remark. 😜 |
Nettie
in Perth, Western Australia
Member
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Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2005 | 08:38 PM
Cassie, like Glamcat, I'm not sure if it's real or not but there do seem to be too many instances for it not to be a possibility.
Ten percent of known cases of SHC occurred in the year 1980. No one can explain this though. My theory is that people were wearing way too much spandex. In my opinion, spandex is a huge social problem! |
Sharruma
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Posted: Mon Feb 28, 2005 | 01:32 AM
Only super heroes should be allowed to wear spandex |
Maegan
in Tampa, FL - USA
Member
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Posted: Mon Feb 28, 2005 | 07:04 AM
...And even then, kevlar is preferred to spandex.
Ahh...Myst. I read that particular post just after reading part of the "Pro-Ana" thread...But if you still want to resemble the remark... That's okay too. 😉 |
unknown
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Posted: Sun May 01, 2005 | 12:33 PM
spontaneous combustion do you even know what it is? |
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