Spontaneous Human Combustion (SHC) refers to when a person bursts into flame for no apparent reason and burns down into charcoal – well almost. Interestingly, the confusion isn’t really about how this happens – read about the Wick Effect, which has been successfully demonstrated on pigs – but the real question is what the hell is setting these people on fire. In one of the latest case of SHC, a 70-year-old pensioner named John Nolan has died of his injuries after bursting into flames in unexplained circumstances in a London street on September 17, 2017, while horrified members of the public tried to put the fire out and alerted police and firefighters. No evidence of an “accelerant” that would have spread the flames have benn found during investigations.
Since then, Mr Nolan’s death has being treated as unexplained. Officers have now to establish how the fire started. Mr Nolan was a well-liked member of the community and none of our enquiries so far have indicated that he had been involved in a dispute of any sort. Moreover no witness accounts suggest that John Nolan had been in contact with another person at the time of the fire.
It looks like Mr Nolan case is a clear Spontaneous combustion. So, what the hell is setting these people on fire?
- A lit cigarette: Unless you’re smoking the Devil’s pole, it seems unlikely you will start to burn since it takes about 570 degrees Fahrenheit to get human flesh to combust.
- Static: Built up static can trigger a spark that can instantly turn you into flames.
- Alcohol: Some believe SHC victims are alcoholics that somehow manage to get a blood alcohol level high enough to turn them into a burner. 23% concentration of alcohol in the blood is required for ignition. Simply impossible!
- Gamma rays and ball lightning: Do ball lightning exist? Scientists are unsure. Have you ever heard of a gamma ray storm engulfing your living room?
Science simply cannot agree on the cause of spontaneous combustion. Until we don’t find a explanation for this phenomenon, we won’t be able to solve the case of Mr Nolan in London.