Scientists have explained the terrible cases of spontaneous combustion of people

Spontaneous spontaneous combustion of a person has always been considered a paranormal phenomenon. Over the past three centuries, 200 such cases have occurred, but scientists could not explain them. Some believed that this was God's punishment, others blamed the alcoholic vapors inside the body. It was possible to solve the riddle of self-ignition of a person only in our days. It turned out that everything happens without mysticism and obeys the laws of nature.

There were always cases when a person suddenly caught fire and died. In the 17th century, a Danish anatomist described in his work a case that occurred in Italy in the 14th century. Then the noble knight Polonus Vorstius became a victim of the fire. Before he flared up, he ate a lot of wine. It was this case that was recognized as a classic and scientists began to assure that it was all about alcohol.

The topic of spontaneous combustion was particularly popular in England in the 19th century. The classic of British literature Charles Dickens described a similar case in the novel "Bleak House", published in 1853. In the novel, a hero named Crook, who was an alcoholic, broke out and burned to the ground.

Apart from the mystical explanation, there have been other attempts to substantiate the phenomenon from the point of view of science. One of the hypotheses was that intestinal gases were to blame for everything. Her supporters believed that if there were enough of them, a spark was enough to cause an outbreak. Obesity was also blamed — it was fat that caught fire in this version.

A pathologist from the Australian University of Adelaide, Roger Bayard, is confident that he has found the right explanation. The scientist analyzed the descriptions of the remains of people who died due to an unexplained fire and found common features among all. It turns out that only the human torso and his head suffer from the mysterious fire. The torso completely burns out, as does the skull. At the same time, the arms and legs remain almost untouched by the flame.

Surprisingly, in most cases, the fire affected the furnishings very little. Sometimes even the chair on which its unfortunate owner burned down remained intact. Bayard claims that everything looks very creepy and strange, nevertheless there is nothing spontaneous and even more mystical about it.

The pathologist claims that in all the cases that he was able to study, the source of an open flame appeared. These were smoking pipes, cigarettes, lamps or fireplaces. Bayard blames the well-known "wick effect" for everything. This is a phenomenon that causes the human body to burn like a candle under certain circumstances.

In 1998, British scientists conducted an experiment with a pig carcass. The dead animal was wrapped in blankets and then set on fire. When things burned down, it turned out that the carcass under them was badly charred. But the fire damaged the limbs quite a bit. The analysis showed that adipose tissue played a key role in this case.

Roger Bayard told the press that human fat can act as fuel. This means that the body itself is able to maintain the fire, without outside interference. At the same time, clothes or bed linen act as a wick in a candle. The scientist suggested that people drink alcohol and accidentally spill it on themselves. After that, the alcohol-soaked fabric lights up from an external source.

Fat supports the flame, but not everywhere. Usually there is less fat in a person's arms and legs than in the body itself. Because of this, they do not burn and remain untouched. Also, there is not always enough fuel to set things on fire around. So far, Roger Bayard's explanation is considered the most scientifically sound of all proposed in several centuries.