The world is full of strange things, and spontaneous human combustion, or SHC, is one of the strangest. The term describes a human body catching fire with no visible source of ignition. Some people put it down to the paranormal; others look for a scientific explanation. Here are ten real stories of spontaneous human combustion from history.
(1) John Irving Bentley’s case
The death of Pennsylvania based physician John Irving Bentley in December 1966 is one the best cases of reported SHC. The elderly physician was found turned to ashes with just the lower leg and a slipper escaping from getting burnt. 90% of his body had burnt, reasons to which was not known by anybody. His house was not on fire; his pipe was kept far away from his bed
(2) Countess Cornelia Di Bandi’s case
One morning in 1731, the worried maids of Countess Cornelia di Bandi broke into her room and found her dead. Her body had burned to ashes except for three fingers, her lower legs and part of her head. Nothing else in the room had burned. The candles had melted down to bare wicks, so they could not have started the fire.
(3) Jack Angel’s case
Salesman Jack Angel of Savannah, Georgia woke up one morning to find his arm and back covered in burns. He had also developed a burn hole in his chest. The clothes that he was wearing were intact. As per doctors, the fire had originated from his left arm only. The incidence happened in 1974.
(4) Polonus Vorstius’s case
This is first reported case of Spontaneous human combustion that dates back to the 15th century. Italian knight Polonus Vorstius after drinking two ladles of wine started vomiting fire and gradually got burnt to death.
(5) Sik Kim’s case
In December, 1956 Honolulu based Paraplegic Young Sik Kim died from a blue flame that burst out of his stomach. The incidence was witnessed by a neighbor who had come to pay a visit to the 78 year old handicapped man who was confined to a wheelchair. By the time the neighbor could bring in some help, the fire had burnt both Kim and his wheelchair to ashes, sparing both his feet only.
(6) Rahul Karnan’s case
Rahul Karnan, a baby from India, first caught fire when he was only nine days old. Flames appeared on their own on his belly and right knee, and before his frightened father could put them out, the fire had burned some of the baby’s delicate skin. The same thing reportedly happened to him three times.
(7) Mary Reeser’s case
Florida based 67 years old Mary Reeser was discovered charred to death by her landlady in1951. Her skull had shrunk to the size of a tea cup, her left foot and the backbone were left, and everything else had turned to ashes. Surprisingly, nothing else had burnt inside the room, not even a pile of newspaper that was stacked nearby, although the temperature had shot up to 3000° F.
(8) Michael Faherty’s case
Irish citizen 76 years old Michael Faherty died in December, 2010 owing to a spontaneous human combustion that left nothing of him but a pile of ashes. He was found burnt dead near the fire place and only the floor and ceiling above him had burn marks. As per the coroner, the furnace was not the source of the fire.
(9) George Mott’s case
George Mott, a former fireman from Crown Point, NY, once watched an episode of The Twilight Zone and asked a friend why nothing like that ever happened to him. He was later found burned to death in his room while watching the same series. All that remained was his shrunken skull and one rib. As in other SHC cases, everything else in the room was left untouched.
(10) Doris Lee Jacobs’s case
Doris Lee Jacobs had suffered 95% burns on her body as she suffered an attack of SHC in her trailer home in Occano, CA. The incidence had happened in Aug, 1966. In spite of the whole body of the poor woman getting burnt to ashes, the inside of the trailer remained undamaged, with partial scorches here and there.
Read also: Top 10 Secrets of the Mysterious Sailing Stones of Death Valley | 20 Facts about the Wow! Signal from Space to Know What is It | Top 20 Roanoke Colony Facts to Know What Happened in Lost Colony