Science says wick effect is to blame

Apr 23, 2008 12:58 GMT  ·  By

Question: Can human beings and other living organisms, for that matter, burn spontaneously? Apparently yes, although there is no known scientific explanation for the phenomenon to date. The first case of such an occurrence was allegedly reported by anatomist Thomas Bartholin in 1663, who described how a woman burst into flames while sleeping, and leaving behind only ashes and all things around the body untouched by the flames. Since then, several hundred reports of spontaneous human combustion have been detailed.

How does it work?

Based on the reports of similar cases, researchers established a pattern to the phenomenon. It seems that, generally, victims experience spontaneous human combustion while sleeping, albeit SHC may also occur during other activities. Usually, most of the body of the victim is consumed entirely by flames - head, torso - while the extremities - hands, feet - remain untouched. No visible action of the flame is left behind on the surrounding objects and, in some cases, people even related that clothes were intact. Others have claimed over the years that they had been the victims of some form of spontaneous combustion, however they have survived.

Spontaneous combustion occurs when a mix of substances is lit through a chemical reaction, without the input of extra energy, much in the same way sodium burns spontaneously in the Earth's atmosphere in the presence of water. According to the evidence collected during past SHC occurrences, in special circumstances, humans may burn spontaneously as well without requiring external heat sources.

The human body is roughly 80 percent water, meaning that just to bring it into a combustion state, high amounts of heat and flammable substances are required, both of which are not produced inside. Methane is probably one of the few combustible gases produced by living beings, including plants. One popular theory suggests that methane gas in the intestines can be lit by enzymes to determine a SHC. The only problem is that some SHC cases have been reported to have left internal organs intact, while the outer body suffered intense heat damage.

Alternative theories trying to explain the phenomenon range all the way from static electricity build ups, to geomagnetic forces and even the presence of pyroton subatomic particles - which haven't been confirmed by theoretical physics.

What really happens

As earlier stated, science has no explanation for the phenomenon, nor does it acknowledge its existence. However, if someone tried to explain it scientifically, the wick effect would probably be the best way to do it. The wick effect implies that a living body lit by an external heat source would burn much in the same way as an inside-out candle.

The wick of a candle consumes wax from inside out, in order to keep it burning. Wax is a mix of fatty acids; human body fats on the other hand can behave very similarly to the wax of a candle. Because fat, as well as wax, melts under intense heat, it may soak into clothes, thus when lit the body and clothes could in theory burn as a candle's wick. This would explain both why the surroundings are not damaged by the flame, and the burn patterns of the victim's body.

The fact that the extremities remain intact may be due to temperature gradient, which states that the top of an object is always hotter than the bottom, and the flame consuming such an object would often go out without provoking much damage in the lower areas.