So, what is this phenomenon you ask? Well...spontaneous human combustion (SHC) is pretty much what it sounds like it is: a human body is burned (sometimes only partially, and sometimes it is incinerated) apparently from the inside. The high temperature required to initiate combustion is reached in a short period of time, and usually no flammable objects are found close by. The victim's clothing, and immediate surroundings show no signs of fire damage.

Well, pretty much every medical scientist refuses to acknowledge that SHC can and has occurred. They need proof before they will even consider its existence. There have been many reported cases of SHC: some of them are fairly recent. In all of these cases SHC seems to be the only explanation for what occurred...read the cases and judge for yourself.

The Lucky Ones...

The Case of Jack Angel

Date of occurrence: November 12, 1974
Location: Savannah, Georgia

Jack Angel was a clothing salesman, who was travelling in Savannah. He parked in a hotel parking lot (in his trailer/showroom) and went to sleep. He woke up four days later, and noticed strange burn marks on his body. His right hand appeared to be burned from the wrist down to the fingertips. Says Angel, "It was just burned, blistered...And I had this big explosion in my chest. It left a hell of a hole. I was burned...on my ankle, and up and down my back, in spots."

Angel didn't feel any pain after waking up, so he proceeded to get showered and dressed per usual. Nothing in his trailer appeared to be burnt-his clothing and bedding both appeared normal. Angel walked over to the hotel, where he collapsed on the floor.

Angel woke up in a hospital, now experiencing immense pain. None of the doctors could explain what had happened to the man. The burning seemed to have happened in the tissue inside of his hand, and then continued up the inside of his arm. Angel's hand became infected and had to be amputated. Meanwhile, the trailer was searched, and still no signs of fire damage were found...

The Case of Paul Hayes

Date of occurrence: May 25, 1985
Location: London, England

Paul Hayes was a nineteen year old computer operator. He was taking a walk near his home, when he found himself suddenly surrounded by flames. Hayes thought that maybe he had some gasoline poured on himself, and was then set on fire. The heat was very intense, and the flames were rising from his waist up to his head. He dropped on the ground, in excrutiating pain. Then suddenly, the fire simply died out. Hayes walked to a hospital that was nearby, and was treated for the burns he received on his upper torso and head.

The Not-Quite-So-Lucky Ones

The Case of Beatric Oczki

Date of occurrence: November 24, 1979
Location: Boilingbrook, Illinois

Oczki was watching t.v. on the night of the 24th. The next morning she was found dead, her body burned. The t.v. was still on, and a newspaper three feet away from the body was undamaged. The ceiling paint above Oczki's head was peeled, a beer can exploded, and a video tape on top of her VCR had melted. Her two dogs were asphyxiated due to the lack of oxygen (which had been consumed in the fire).

The Case of Mary Hardy Reeser

Date of occurrence: July 1, 1951
Location: St.Petersburg, Florida

Mary Hardy Reeser was 67 years old. She lived in an apartment building, by herself. At 5:00 a.m. the morning of the 1st, Mrs. Carpenter ( Reeser's landlady) said that she smelled smoke. She attributed it to an overheating water pump and "fixed" the problem. At 8:00 a.m. that morning a telegram arrived at Carpenter's for Reeser. She brought it to Reeser's apartment. She reached for the doorknob, and felt that it was extremely hot. Carpenter yelled for help, and two painters from across the street came over. They opened the door and instantly felt a blast of hot air. They saw some smoke, and a small flame on a wooden partition was the only fire in the apartment.

The firemen arrived soon after, and put out the fire. During the following investigation, Reeser's body was found. In the middle of the floor was a charred area, approximately four feet in diameter. Also found in this area were the remains of chair springs and remains of a human body ( a charred liver fused to a piece of spine, a shrunken skull, a pile of ashes, and a foot with a slipper on it). Reeser's slippered left foot wasn't burned as it was outside of the strange four foot radius where the damage was concentrated.

The cause of Reeser's death was inexplicable. There was no explanation for the great amount of heat that would be necessary to burn most of her body to ashes. The only furniture that was damaged was the chair and a nearby endtable. The ceiling, draperies, and walls from an area four feet above the ground, were coated in a smelly, oily soot. Below this four foot area, there was no damage; the carpet wasn't even burned. The wall outlets were melted, but none of the fuses were blown. Some newspapers, draperies, and linens on a nearby daybed were undamaged (these are highly flammable objects).

Dr. Krogman is a physical anthropologist, and a world renowned expert on the effects of fire on the human body. Says Krogman about the case, "I regard it as the most amazing thing I have ever seen. As I review it, the short hairs on my neck bristle with vague fear. Were I living in the Middle Ages, I'd mutter something about Black Magic." Dr. Krogman examined the remains of Reeser's body very carefully, and was left stupified. "...the head is not left complete in ordinary burning cases. Certainly it does not shrivel or symmetrically reduce to a smaller size. In presence ot heat sufficient to destroy soft tissues, the skull would literally explode in many pieces. I...have never known any exception to this rule" he says.

The investigation was halted after a year of the FBI, fire officials, arson experts, and pathologists trying to figure out just how Reeser could have died the way she did.

"Our investigation has turned up nothing that could be singled out as proving, beyond a doubt, what actually happened. The case is still open. We are still as far from establishing any logical cause for the death as we were when we fisrt entered Mrs.Reeser's apartment."

Bibliography
ourworld.compuserve.com/homepage/ponder/shc.htm
Reader's Digest. 1988. Facts and Fallacies. New York/Montreal: The Reader's Digest Association, Inc.