Spontaneous Human Combustion

Have you ever been so angry you felt you might explode into flame? For some unfortunate people that may have become a reality. There have been several stories throughout history of people catching fire and burning up in intense flame while leaving much of their surroundings and even their feet unscathed. Is it possible for the human body to spontaneously catch fire and could it be linked to the victims emotional state?

Some of the most notable occurrences of this phenomenon are the deaths of Margaret Hogan and Michael Faherty.

Margaret Hogan was an 89-year-old widow who lived alone in her home in Dublin, Ireland. She was found dead on the 28 March 1970 almost completely burned away to the point of complete destruction. Her television sitting 12 feet away had a melted screen and some plastic flowers on a nearby coffee table were completely melted. Her feet and legs from below the knees were undamaged leaving only ashes above this point. When a neighbor visited the previous day there was a small fire burning in the fireplace but there was no connection established between this fire and the fire that killed Margaret. An inquest was held on the 3rd of April 1970 leading to the cause of death being labelled as death by burning with the cause unknown.

Another woman in American named Marly Reeser died in another suspected case of spontaneous human combustion in a similar way to Margaret Hogan.

Michael Faherty was a 76-year-old man in County Galway Ireland whos death was recorded as "spontaneous combustion" by the coroner. Michael's body was found lying on his back in his sitting room with his head near to an open fireplace. The fire was completely confined to the totally burnt body, the ceiling above and the floor beneath him. There was no trace of any accelerants and there was nothing to suggest foul play. Assistant chief fire officer Gerry O'Malley told the inquest into the death that after a thorough investigation he as satisfied that the open fire was not the cause of the blaze that killed Michael. The doctor, Ciaran McLoughlin, stated at the inquiry into his death that "This fire was thoroughly investigated and I'm left with the conclusion that this fits into the category of spontaneous human combustion, for which there is no adequate explanation."

Paranormal Theories

In Larry E. Arnold’s book Ablaze! he suggested that the flammability of a human body could be increased by certain circumstances, like increased blood alcohol levels. He also proposed that extreme emotional states such as stress could be the trigger that starts many combustions.

In his Fire from Heaven, author Michael Harrison suggests that poltergeist activity may be responsible for spontaneous human combustion. He argues that "the force which activates the 'poltergeist' originates in, and is supplied by, a human being".

John Abrahamson argues that ball lightning could account for spontaneous human combustion. He stated: "This is circumstantial only, but the charring of human limbs seen in a number of ball lightning cases are very suggestive that this mechanism may also have occurred where people have had limbs combusted." The extremely rare occurrence of ball lightning would account for the fact the spontaneous human combustion is also extremely rare.

Scientific Theories

Most cases of spontaneous human combustion involve people with low mobility and poor health. Victims sometimes show a high likelihood of having died in their sleep or of having been unable to move once they had caught fire. Cigarettes are often seen as a likely source of the fire. The victim may have passed away of natural causes such as a heart attack or stroke which causes them to drop the cigarette which ignites their clothes after a period of time.

The Wick Effect hypothesis suggests that a small ignition source such as a burning cigarette causes the skin to split open and subcutaneous fat is released. This fat then ignites and acts as a wick causing the body to burn like a candle without doing much damage to the surrounding environment.

It has been suggested that ketosis, possibly caused by high alcohol consumption or low-carb dieting, produces acetone, which could make the body more flammable and lead to spontaneous human combustion.