New Haven Advocate: Smoke and Mirrors — Here is a good skeptical piece on the phenomenon known as SHC or spontaneous human combustion. There are more than a few people who are fascinated by this phenomenon.
The idea that people can suddenly and spontaneously burst into flames is quite old, existing in folklore for centuries and first chronicled by Jonas Dupont in 1763 (in De Incendiis Corporis Humani Spontaneis ). SHC was also made famous by Charles Dickens, who did away with a despicable alcoholic character named Krook in the novel Bleak House by having him combust spontaneously. This episode in fiction also furthered the notion that heavy alcohol use can lead to an inflammatory demise.
related links:
backgrounder on SHC
documented cases? or bad reporting?
Somebody has been watchiing too much of
the Fantastic 4.
Combustion when one passes out while smoking and having clothing drenched in spilled spirits isn’t exactly spontaneous.
Put this one alongside the Indigo Children and teach it in a Philosophy class with Intelligent Design and the Flying Spaghetti Monster
This phenomenon currently seems to be prevalent in the middle east. You can probably walk down the street on any given day and see someone explode
OK, Dingo, let me rethink my opinion, you might be on to something I overlooked.
Dingo, wouldn’t you call that Spontaneous Human Explosion? I mean, combustion suggests a long, slow chemical reaction where as an explosion suggests a rapid release.
JMHO.
G