Man bursts into flames on london street (unexplained)

Just seen this article.

It claims a elderly man in his 70s burst into flames with no obvious accelerant. Police have taken over investigation but thus far it is totally unexplained as to the cause or why it happened..

I would love to post more but im on a handheld android..


www.independent.co.uk...

There are other news articles just coming online now I will update when bqck at a desk top.

RA

a reply to: slider1982

Inquest due to open in March??!??!?

Well since we know that ghosts aren’t real and people don’t spontaneously combust into flames, My guess is that someone sprayed him down with something flammable and set him on fire.

a reply to: slider1982

Spontaneous human combustion, I've read other similar stories but I'm quite sure this has never been verified, always interesting to have a mystery though

"[...]the recorded cases have these things in common:
the victims are chronic alcoholics;
they are usually elderly females;
the body has not burned spontaneously, but some lighted substance has come into contact with it;
the hands and feet usually fall off;
the fire has caused very little damage to combustible things in contact with the body;
the combustion of the body has left a residue of greasy and fetid ashes, very offensive in odour."[5]

en.wikipedia.org...

a reply to: Zcustosmorum


Spontaneous human combustion is a "thing" it seems as there have been numerous reported cases. Usually an external source of ignition causes it and what is called "the wick effect" takes over. Not nice, the wick effect.

I saw this reported today and it will be interesting to see how it pans out but, poor bloke.

Havent seen a SHC case in a long while.

weird man

If you have spent even a little time researching the known cases of human spontaneous combustion, you would more than likely come to the conclusion that there may be something to it. Although "science" has yet to verify/validate it, we should not be too eager to throw the baby out with the bath water on this one...

It is my opinion that given the alleged cases are so very rare, that it may ultimately come down to a combination of environmental and internal factors that play in to this. A special blend of dietary ingredients combined with an individuals internal acidic measurements, combined with external factors such as temperature and air borne toxins may on very rare occasions come to gather to create a special blend of hell by fire for the unsuspecting victim.

Anyway, I do not find the premises of human spontaneous combustion out of the realm of scientific possibility, and further more, to lump it in to the same basket as ghosts seems foolish to me.

a reply to: slider1982

Human combustion- the first ever mysterious subject I heard about. About 31 years ago. It was in all the fortean style books.

a reply to: slider1982

The question I have, is was he carrying one of those new fangled e-cigs, or a mobile phone?

Both these things have been known to randomly burn up, in various circumstances.

a reply to: and14263


Me too. I have the same memories. Was a real mystery thing then so when I looked it up just now I have to admit to being slightly annoyed to see all the rational explanations for it.

a reply to: slider1982

Taco Bell gone awry?

originally posted by: Woodcarver
a reply to: slider1982
... My guess is that someone sprayed him down with something flammable and set him on fire.

well if thats your guess then thank god your not the authority in the matter.

...The London Fire Brigade investigated the cause of the fire but found no evidence of an “accelerant” that would have spread the flames...

...The investigating officer, PC Damien Ait-Amer, said: “We have spoken with a number of witnesses who saw Mr Nolan ablaze, but we have yet to establish how the fire started...

...Nor does any account given by witnesses suggest that he had been in contact with another person at the time of the fire.”...

A high energy laser could probably have the same effect on a person. The same kind of HEL's used to take down artillery and mortar shells and missiles.

Perhaps on of the mirrors in space got knocked out of alignment and the guy became the ant under the magnifying glass?

Cases of SHC have a common factor in a lot of cases.
The victims tend to be alcoholics.
This guy was Irish....

a reply to: HomeBrew

I remember SHC long before e-cigs or other items that blow up. I actually remember seeing a photo of it, it was an old lady and all that was left was her shoes and some soot. I really think it is possible for the human body to do it all on it's own. Think about it, we have electrical currents in us, and we can also gather static electricity.

The human body is still a mystery.

Theories vary with one of the most popular being that it's caused by a build-up of methane in the intestines which is ignited by enzymes.

Others have speculated that it's a result of a build-up of static electricity inside the body while the theory it's caused by excessive amounts of alcohol in the body became widely known after Charles Dickens killed off a character by spontaneous human combustion in Bleak House.

Some scientists have proposed the possible explanation as a "wick effect" which suggests that smoking a cigarette could act like an inside-out candle.

TheSun.co.uk - Pensioner, 70, ‘spontaneously combusts’ while walking on London street. (they stole the quoted material from howstuffworks.com)

I never heard of the alcohol-static electricity cause before. I will be sure to touch a door knob after a slug of the good stuff!

How about an even wilder cause? Reality shifts between universes creates a space-time bubble that fills with Hawking radiation that collides with the poor person setting them ablaze!

And it would go the other way too. Say instead of bursting into flames you pass through. That would explain what happened to that guy in England running between bars who tripped and then disappeared in front of his mates.

How ever it happens, truly X-files in real life.

a reply to: TrueBrit

That was my first thought exactly.

skip to around 11mins on this video

I disagree, it wasn't spontaneous.
It was premeditated, delayed several times, and then finally he decided to combust into flames.

All you have to do is get really mad and hold your breath.

Perhaps someone was pointing a laser at him?

originally posted by: butcherguy
Cases of SHC have a common factor in a lot of cases.
The victims tend to be alcoholics.
This guy was Irish....

And a construction worker, or what we call a labourer. Now we are both guilty of bad stereotyping?

that man was on fiiiiiiiireeeeeeeee thatman was on fiiiiirrrreeee.

poor man. SHC hit him.