Started By
Message
Spontaneous Human Combustion: fact or fiction?
Posted on 2/11/19 at 6:34 pm
Posted on 2/11/19 at 6:34 pm
There have been several documented cases of possible SHC, but none more famous than Mary Reeser.
This subject fascinates me, but I'm going to call BS and say it's fiction. It is strange that the fire didn't really spread in her house, though.
Mary Reeser
quote:
On July 2, 1951, at about 8 a.m., Reeser's landlady, Pansy Carpenter, arrived at Reeser's door with a telegram. Trying the door, she found the metal doorknob to be uncomfortably warm to the touch and called the police.
Reeser's remains, which were largely ashes, were found among the remains of a chair in which she had been sitting. Only part of her left foot (which was wearing a slipper) and her backbone remained, along with her skull.
quote:
On July 7, 1951, St. Petersburg police chief J.R. Reichert sent a box of evidence from the scene to FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover. He included glass fragments found in the ashes, six "small objects thought to be teeth," a section of the carpet, and the surviving shoe.
quote:
The FBI eventually declared that Reeser had been incinerated by the wick effect. As she was a known user of sleeping pills, they hypothesized that she had fallen unconscious while smoking and set fire to her nightclothes.
quote:
At the request of the Chief of Police, St. Petersburg, Florida, the scene was also investigated by physical anthropologist Wilton M Krogman. Professor Krogman, of the University of Pennsylvania's School of Medicine[citation needed], had spent some time in the 1930s experimenting and examining the remains of such incidents, in order to aid in the detection of crimes.[citation needed]
Krogman was frequently consulted by the FBIfor this reason but after examining the scene and reading the FBI's report, he strongly disputed the FBI's conclusions concerning Reeser. However, the full circumstances of the death—and Krogman's objections to the FBI's version of events—would not become known publicly for a decade.
This subject fascinates me, but I'm going to call BS and say it's fiction. It is strange that the fire didn't really spread in her house, though.
Mary Reeser
Posted on 2/11/19 at 6:35 pm to Maytheporkbewithyou
Fact.
Or fiction.
Or fiction.
Posted on 2/11/19 at 10:21 pm to Maytheporkbewithyou
Spontaneous Human Combustion may be friction.
Posted on 2/12/19 at 7:00 am to Maytheporkbewithyou
This could have been avoided if she'd simply just farted.
ETA: Or maybe she did and the cigarette ignited the fumes.
ETA: Or maybe she did and the cigarette ignited the fumes.
This post was edited on 2/12/19 at 7:02 am
Posted on 2/12/19 at 12:04 pm to Maytheporkbewithyou
Dozens of people spontaneously combust each year, it's just not really widely reported.
Posted on 2/12/19 at 12:47 pm to Maytheporkbewithyou
quote:
fiction
I'm leaning this way but I've had some Indian food and some burritos that almost burned my arse up
Posted on 2/12/19 at 12:50 pm to Maytheporkbewithyou
I'm gonna say fiction. If it was real, what causes one to combust? Certain gas levels inside of a person?
Posted on 2/12/19 at 1:07 pm to thatguy45
I don't believe it either. The only oddity that surround SHC is the fact that the person basically burns until they're ashes, but they don't ignite anything else. Weird.
Posted on 2/12/19 at 1:13 pm to Marktheus
quote:
friction
Damn it. I wish I had thought of that.
Posted on 2/12/19 at 6:19 pm to Marktheus
Solid first post. Welcome.
Posted on 2/12/19 at 6:26 pm to Maytheporkbewithyou
I want to say fact because its fascinating but I haven’t seen any accounts that I really believe. Like something modern day where the police/fire department respond and investigate, a coroner does an autopsy, etc etc and they all can’t explain it. If something like that exists please link it but unti then I dunno.
This post was edited on 2/12/19 at 6:30 pm
Posted on 2/13/19 at 11:07 am to KSGamecock
No, people cannot just combust into flames.
Posted on 2/13/19 at 11:42 am to Maytheporkbewithyou
Fiction. The body is 70% water. Come on, people.
Posted on 2/14/19 at 7:14 am to Maytheporkbewithyou
Had a badly burnt person come into hospital once. Everyone said it was a case of spontaneous combustion. Pathologist said it was from something she put in the dryer with her cloths. Forgot what it was called...
Back to top
Follow SECRant for SEC Football News