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Spontaneous self-combustion

Mendeli

Thinker
Mendeli
Joined
Oct 5, 2005
Messages
165
I wonder why nobody joined the challenge claiming the ability to spontaneously self combust yet... oh wait, I see...

Anyways, I just saw an old X-files episode about this very phenomenom... now where would I go on findin information about this? Are there any real cases or is this complete hooplaah? I vaguely remember reading about it years ago in some pseudoscience magazine...
 
I've heard of this. I don't know much about it, but from what I can tell it's not exactly "spontaneous." Drink a lot of moonshine and wash it down by smoking a pack of cigarettes, then see what happens...
 
c4ts said:
I've heard of this. I don't know much about it, but from what I can tell it's not exactly "spontaneous." Drink a lot of moonshine and wash it down by smoking a pack of cigarettes, then see what happens...
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Typical Tuesday at my place.
 
Skeptical Inquirer did an article on it a few years ago. Essentially, these are people who have either passed out (or died) due to intoxication or a medical condition, and who were smoking at the time. (or near another heat source.)

Generally overweight as well, the fatty tissues can ignite and do a long, slow, smouldery burn, which does not get hot enough cause other nearby objects to ignite.
It's possible for the bones to be calcined by this process as well.

The morgue or crime-scene photos are particularly gruesome....
 
"Dozens of people spontaneously combust each year. It's just not really widely reported." - David St. Hubbins

(Sorry, couldn't resist.)
 
Unfortunately most of the wrong people spontaneously combust - the woos who think it's woo are still here!
 
I thought this was shown to be the "Wick Affect". Fatty tissues burn slow and long and produce heat which can melt nearby objects (such as plastic television cases) but it burns cleanly so you don't find soot all over the house. Just a pile of ashes remain with the odd extremety or two. When the fat burns off, usually in a pile of ashes, it doesn't ignite things like carpets because the ashes insulate the small flame from spreading.

There was a police officer who found a body still burning in this manner and also experiments done on pigs that supported this, if I recall correctly.
 
Mendeli said:
I wonder why nobody joined the challenge claiming the ability to spontaneously self combust yet... oh wait, I see...

Anyways, I just saw an old X-files episode about this very phenomenom... now where would I go on findin information about this? Are there any real cases or is this complete hooplaah? I vaguely remember reading about it years ago in some pseudoscience magazine...
Click to expand...
If you're talking about what is called Spontaneous Human Combustion, this is the best breakdown of the concept I've come across:
http://www.benecke.com/combust.html
 
Starthinker said:
I thought this was shown to be the "Wick Affect".
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You do recall correctly. Essential the body becomes an inside-out candle. The clothes on the outside act as the wick and the fatty tissues on the inside provide the fuel. CSI even had an episode on this where they did the pig wrapped in a blanket experiment. I'm not sure but Myth Busters may have also done an episode on this.
 
Paul- Of course,several adepts out there are in fact invisible. They are unlikely to out themselves by publicly winning a paltry million.

They are doing quite nicely already thanks.

By the way, if you inspect carefully, you will find that the brown stain near the rear left corner of your kitchen floor is in fact soya sauce.
(This constitutes unquestionable proof of paranormal abilities, but I suspect you are one of those ultra-skeptics who will merely claim he always has soya sauce spills on his kitchen floor. There's just nothing to be done for folks like you).;)
 
There was a Discovery (?) show on this some time ago. They "combusted" a pig. As I recall the fat theory suggests that low fat body bits (hands, feet) will not combust and that is exactly what is found.

More woo crap.
 
Typical isnt it that-as with all paranormal phenomena-it only occurs to single individuals when they are alone! Never in the supermarket or having a picnic in the park!:p
 
Azrael 5 said:
Typical isnt it that-as with all paranormal phenomena-it only occurs to single individuals when they are alone! Never in the supermarket or having a picnic in the park!:p
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Not much dematerializing stuff happening on live tv either. No ghosts at the Superbowl and no levitating Asians in the Olympic high jump. Where are those chi/ki guys world records anyway?
 
case sensitive said:
Not much dematerializing stuff happening on live tv either. No ghosts at the Superbowl and no levitating Asians in the Olympic high jump. Where are those chi/ki guys world records anyway?
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No famous dead people coming through to John Edward.Where's JFK saying who really shot him? Princess Diana letting us know what really went on in the Pont D'Alma?
Nope.Plenty brother/sister/cousin energy witha J name!;)
 
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