Spontaneous Human Combustion | Debunking Historic Mysteries

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In today's video, we dive into the fascinating and mysterious topic of spontaneous human combustion. I look at the historical accounts, explore the science, and debunk the myths surrounding this eerie phenomenon. Was it ever real, or just a figment of our imagination? Tune in to discover the truth behind the legends and uncover the facts that science reveals.
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WHO AM I?
Hey there, I’m Cinzia DuBois On this channel, I talk about dark and ancient history, literature and folklore.
❗️DISCLAIMER
I'm very dyslexic, so I apologise for any mispronunciations that occur when I'm reading scripts for videos. Additionally, whilst flattered, I'm only a PhD student and not a professional educator. As such, I would advise against ever citing my videos or using them as an academic resource: please instead cite references for papers I list in the description box.
Resources:
Christensen AM. 2002. Experiments in the combustibility of the human body. J Forensic Sci. 47:466-70.Ford, Brian, J. 2012, Critical Focus column No 10: Solving the mystery of Spontaneous Human Combustion, The Microscope, 60 (2): 63-72.
Ensor J. 2016. Irish pensioner ‘died of spontaneous human combustion’. www.telegraph.co.uk/news/world....
Koljonen V, Kluger N. 2012. Spontaneous human combustion in the light of the 21st century. J Burn Care Res. 33(3):e101-7. doi: 10.1097/BCR.0b013e318239c5d7. PMID: 22269823.
Byard, R.W. 2016. The mythology of “spontaneous” human combustion. Forensic Sci Med Pathol 12, 350-352. doi-org.bham-ezproxy.idm.oclc...
Gamble JG. Death by spontaneous combustion: Charles Dickens and the strange case of Mr. Krook. Pharos. 1999;62:11-5.
Gromb S, Lavigne X, Kerautret G, Grosleron-Gros N, Dabadie P. 2000. Spontaneous human combustion: a sometimes incomprehensible phenomenon. J Clin Forensic Med. 7:29-31.
#SpontaneousHumanCombustion #SHC #HistoryMysteries #DebunkingMyths #ScienceExplained #CinziaDuBois

[@instupidbliss1394]

This used to be an irrational fear of mine because of a random Unsolved Mysteries episode I saw when I was arguably way too young. I'd like to say it was a childhood fear but it continued well into adulthood. Good thing I love my carbs!

[@marnie8007]

Me too! I was absolutely terrified of this happening to me. I couldn't remember what had caused me to be afraid of it but I watched Unsolved Mysteries all the time so I'm sure that's what it was!

[@robo5013]

My grandmother had a Time-Life book called Unexplained Mysteries, or something like that, that had a chapter on spontaneous human combustion with photographs. After seeing that she had a fear of it for years.

[@basicallyno1722]

Yes!! I remember that one.

[@thing_under_the_stairs]

@@robo5013 Same here, probably from the same Time-Life book! Those books left me so scared of so many bizarre things as a child.

[@cozygoblin]

Oh my God me too! I watched a show about spontaneous human combustion when I was ten and it scared me so bad!

[@Werevampiwolf]

I had to be dragged out of the house by firefighters as a small child because the neighbour's house caught on fire in the middle of the night, starting in the master bedroom. But it turned out he just smoked in bed, because it was the 90s. He didn't put the cigarette all the way out and it caught the bedding on fire. (Our houses were very close together, probably less than a meter apart.) (I say "dragged" because my cousins were having a sleepover and so there were like 5 children under 6 years old all laying on my bed and the firefighter decided the easiest way to get us all out quickly was to just grab the edge of the blanket we were laying on and pull.)

[@user-gl5dq2dg1j]

Probably the fastest. It is both amazing and terrifying how quick flames can move, spread, and become larger.

[@BeeWhistler]

Old folks smoking in bed! My mom actually got an award once from the mayor of Bossier City, I think, back in the 80s, for basically doing what she should as a nurse and leading the rest of the staff around, smashing windows to get patients out of a burning geriatric ward of the hospital where she worked. The cause? An old lady just had to have a smoke in her hospital bed. The old lady was the only death and considering what almost happened I kinda guiltily feel there’s a certain justice to that. But that also explains why my mom got an award. She brought home the notched bandage scissors (used to break the glass) and I took them to show off in school once…

[@RangerGucci]

Dude that's actually really funny just bundling up all the kids and dragging them out lol

[@deathdeathington]

As I lie here in my bed, smoking a nice cigar and drinking a fine brandy in my Edwardian boudoir, I came across this fascinating article on the subject of spontaneous human combustion. Brilliant! I think as I notice my eyelids are starting to feel heavy... Perhaps a little ether will pep me up?

[@officaldungeons]

Consider: huffing gasoline? /j

[@MasterManGod]

Shared this with my friend who does keto and his response was "I feel attacked" lol. Awesome video.

[@MamboGimbobili]

Im doing keto right now, good to know I should keep away from open flames

[@johnsteiner3417]

As always; fuel, oxidizer, and ignition source. Firefighter's pyramid.

[@baconsarny-geddon8298]

Sure, that's the minimum requirements for ANY fire... But just providing those three elements (in any old combination) won't create fire hot enough to shrink a human skull, smaller than an orange... Or burn an adults torso to a few grams of ash, while their legs and feet don't even have their leg-hair singed. These reports aren't just "human bodies burning, with no apparent ignition source and insufficient fuel". They're bodies burning, IN A VERY SPECIFIC WAY; Temperatures three or four times what can be conventionally explained with theories like "the wick effect", extremely localised. If it was a simple matter of "fuel, oxygen, inhibition source", it wouldn't still be unexplained and impossible to replicate, after 150+ years of scientific explanation.

[@fatterperdurabo42069]

@@baconsarny-geddon8298 it's not impossible that people were just not accurately describing what they found for any number of reasons and created this set of circumstances from nothing. Since the more plausible cases all seem to be, well, more plausible.

[@SarastistheSerpent]

As a kid I watched a CSI episode about a supposed case of spontaneous human combustion and i unfortunately developed an irrational fear of it. Thanks for the info!

[@tetsubo57]

Spontaneous Human Combustion has always fascinated me. It's *just* on the edge of the possible but improbable.

[@LeadrynMcKrotch]

When I was little I would watch the history channel. I know now that they are kind of a laughing stock in the history community, I didn't then. So when I saw their special on spontaneous human combustion with their narrative that it was very possible and happened all the time, I was genuinely terrified as a child of dying that way. Lol

[@rachel1576e]

@@LeadrynMcKrotchsame! I watched a documentary about it when I was 10 years old and it terrified me

[@bear6699]

I wouldn't say it's on the edge of possible lol. We are mostly made of water.

[@veronicatash777]

The last thing i expected when seeing this video was to hear you citing a doctor from 10 minutes north of here in Port Huron.

[@philipliethen519]

…surprise for me as well, here in Port Huron!

[@srose1088]

I feel like every old michigan costal city is haunted af. They are the buffer zone for woo woo lol.

[@veronicatash777]

@@srose1088 What do you know of that is really good in SE Michigan?

[@bustedkeaton]

Neat!

[@Computra]

Love this! I grew up in Moline, Illinois about an hour and a half from Seneca. My grandmother would jokingly say hot flashes got to this poor woman. But this was a talked about legend and rumor was she was an alcoholic and smoker.

[@gnostic268]

I live about a couple of hours east of Moline and I've never heard about this 😲

[@Cnichal]

Quad Cities represent 😅

[@Computra]

@Cnichal what city were you from?!?!?! Yes Quad Cities where we are really 5 cities now but we are so stubborn we won't change from the Quads to the Quint Citites!

[@averageatom]

I can’t fully convey how much I appreciate that you don’t use jump cuts all the time. One of my favorite KZbinrs! I appreciate you.

[@Liberal.Linda.]

I so agree. So much easier and more enjoyable to listen and follow the story without them. Those with jump cuts are so hard to follow that it's exhausting keeping up.

[@neon_Nomad]

Is this sarcasm?

[@PodaKalidoka]

@@neon_Nomad 😂

[@richardfecteau4490]

still too many cuts

[@baarbacoa]

There have been a couple of times when, after a presentation had gone badly, that I wished for spontaneous human combustion to take me out of the situation.

[@user-gl5dq2dg1j]

Just be glad you weren't doing a demonstration on how different elements show different colors of light when heated with the metal salts dissolved in flammable liquids and decided to add more liquid to the flames, not quite spontaneous combustion, but flashback is a real and deadly thing.

[@danbreen3353]

I did not see the twist in the end coming. The absolute best argument against a keto diet! Thanks!

[@biteofdog]

Google: keto diet is dangerous. And you will see many other ways it's not a safe diet.

[@ElJefeS4]

I agree, its a fun video - but there is no scientific evidence that keto has anything to do with SHC (spontaneous human combustion). In that same vein, there is no scientific evidence for the existence of SHC being real either. It's a fun campfire story but there just isn't any evidence for it..

[@BeeWhistler]

I have had to pick up some keto recipes in an effort to lower my blood sugar (prediabetic) and for a second I got uneasy, but I guess it’s a pretty complete removal of carbs to induce ketosis so I think I’m good. I do eat fruit…

[@basicallyno1722]

One can also just fast to get the body in ketosis. I’m not one hundred percent sure removal of carbs will get the body in ketosis if you keep eating other things without a good bit of time in between. I’m no nutritionist though! Hope your blood sugar is well!

[@DragonbIaze052]

I mean, the best argument against keto is that it can very easily kill you or cause organ damage over time, to the point where it is basically the last resort treatment for persistent seizures and even then requires medical oversight for safety.

[@orionbarnes1733]

I used to be terrified of SHC as a child lol, funny to look back on something like that now. Thought I'd just fucking explode one day lmao

[@lococomrade3488]

You can still fear random and precisely-sized meteorites bursting down upon you. 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@Ragdollcatlover]

When I was at primary school, we had a reading comprehension exercise about SHC and I was absolutely terrified it was going to happen to me.

[@RafaelGarcia022]

Another banger from THE lady of the library. Thanks for the video!

[@ahrzb]

Happy you’re back, I hope you feel better about this channel

[@pirobot668beta]

Cadaver (pig and human) testing of 'oily candle' hypothesis are pretty compelling. Fat melts, is soaked up by clothing, where it burns like a large candle. Bones and deeper tissues without so much fat are singed, but do not burn. It's a low temperature flame, with a fair amount of fat vaporized, leading to 'room coated in grease'. Articles in the room aren't ignited, due to the nature of the burn.

[@KitsuneVoss]

I have heard it often called the wick effect. There also is a truly horrible connection if you watch PBS Nova Holocaust on Trial that the Nazi used it in their crematoriums to burn bodies without fuel.

[@astrothsknot]

i was always under the impression that it was an intense temperature but a very small flame, which was why the surroundings never burned, so wick effect.

[@julietfischer5056]

Most of the time, victims of purported spontaneous combustion were asleep or unconscious near sources of fire. In others, they had combustibles on their persons. There are a few where nobody can figure out just what happened. If humans and animals could spontaneously combust, we'd have seen more of it and figured out what was going on a long time ago.

[@swayback7375]

That last paragraph is problematic. There are many things that happen regularly that we don’t understand, or have a very poor understanding of. Flight in particular comes to mind, also lighting… I agree that spontaneous combustion of humans is … unlikely… dubious… probably nearly impossible or even outright impossible, “if X can happen then it would happen all the time and we would understand it”, that’s just a faulty way to think regardless of the subject.

[@MrDowntemp0]

I always heard it was a myth. But as a Diabetic, now I'm gonna have trouble sleeping! I think I need a waterbed :D

[@Werevampiwolf]

If it helps, there's millions of diabetic people in the world, and the number of them that randomly caught fire for seemingly no reason throughout recorded history is at most a few hundred and probably a lot less than that, so the odds are it won't happen to you. But

[@alicias.8482]

Your stories of the macabre and mythology are my favorites❤❤❤So excited!! Growing up, I thought spontaneous human combustion and quicksand were going to much more pressing problems than they have turned out

[@winterburden]

Thanks for this fascinating video Cinzia!

[@CinziaDuBois]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@FlpSideOfSanity]

I’ve always been fascinated with this topic! Thank you!!

[@CinziaDuBois]

You are so welcome!

[@danwilson1040]

Thanks

[@Liberal.Linda.]

I love this video. I love strange things that seem improbable, but are entirely possible. To hear you narrate an entire video about it is perfection. ❤

[@paulaharrisbaca4851]

Charles Dickens also wrote of alcoholics spontaneously burning. As a little girl my best friend and I were both terrified of suddenly catching fire. If you have ever read the Struwwelpeter book and the chapter of "Harriet and the Matches" will understand why children feared of this even if we didn't smoke or drink....

[@Channel7Tonight]

I've never heard about the acetone theory before, very interesting. Great video as usual!

[@allpau6199]

OMG!!!! You have a red Pomeranian too!!! I had one long ago. His name was Max. He was funny but a pistol too.

[@CinziaDuBois]

Aww how cute! Though I'm afraid can't claim my dog as a Pomeranian haha, she's a blonde German spitz

[@Brittanyem]

Wow, the details about acetone and such was absolutely fascinating.

[@whysoserious8666]

I heard this happened to the drummer for Spinal Tap live on stage.

[@CinziaDuBois]

I’m afraid I can’t tell if people leaving this comment are being sarcastic or not.

[@danwilson1040]

Fascinating,thank you

[@tonyfasce5332]

Awesome.

[@CinziaDuBois]

Glad you think so!

[@willmendoza8498]

I love a good debunk!

[@allpau6199]

Yay🎉🎉 I new video from the Lady of the Library!!!😊❤

[@tecumsehcristero]

I’m so happy you didn’t parrot the idea that “the wick effect has disproven Spontaneous Human Combustion” Great video. Good Job. Remember weird and highly strange things happen all the time. No one nowadays doubts that rocks called meteorites fall from the sky but centuries ago you would be considered insane or a fool or worse a liar if you witnessed a meteorite fall to earth and told any learned person.

[@NathanMakerProd]

Always enchanted by your videos!!! Your hauntingly authoritative voice! Your gothic good looks! So glad you're still making content!!! 💌

[@arailway8809]

Who-Ray! Someone that actually does good library research. This subject has long interested me when I read about a woman named Reese that burst into flames. One of my teachers at the time was also named Reese. What impressed me with this review was that the woman in accidently executing herself, also caused the demise of two males in the household. One of the cases not covered here, that interested me was the instance of a woman that caught fire more than once, but was saved by relatives. Nice work, dear Lady.

[@niab4450]

Oooh! I love this topic! I used to be so fascinated by human combustion and the human wick effect.

[@HarunoHime07]

I am in love with your hair color and this was a great video ❤

[@NanaBren]

I enjoyed this video. I just wanted to mention that the subject has always fascinated me. I have read accounts over the years of a few instances of a person suddenly being on fire with blue colored flames and absolutely no pain or idea what happened. One man had flames burst from his arm, extinguished the flames with help from his wife. A short time later, the same arm burst into flame again. He again was able to extinguish the flame and was seen in an Emergency Department for the burns to his arm. He lived a normal life after the incident. Apparently, if the flames ignite when another person is present, they can be extinguished. However, most cases are of people who are alone. I believe the survivor I mentioned earlier was in a camping trailer with his wife in the 1970’s. ❤

[@trentarnold7226]

Really glad you're still making these videos. They're very well researched and presented, with interesting subject matter.

[@jessicastein5155]

The next time my one friend goes on waaaaaayyyy too long about her wonderful keto diet, I'm sending her a link to this video... Thank you as always for your wonderful, well-researched videos!

[@fourganger88]

Came for the history, stayed for the science

[@davidponseigo8811]

Your Pom puppy is adorable. I had a little Pom but unfortunately she was diabetic and passed away at 6 years old and it absolutely broke my wife's heart. We still have a English Mastiff and a Great Pyrenees that both are over 200 pounds so they are not exactly small and cuddly and can't sleep on the bed with us, well at least not if we want in the bed ourselves. I need to find her a new little I guess.

[@odetoclear]

yess i've always been interested in this phenomenon. didn't expect you to make a video about it but i certainly don't mind :D

[@CinziaDuBois]

Hope you enjoyed it!

[@robert-yv2yj]

An excellent video as usual. Human bodies are notoriously difficult to burn, and even in a modern crematorium can take up to six hours, or more, to become ash. With spontaneous combustion the burning tends to be very local - a chair, or table etc. I find the subject very interesting, but have no answers. If you have a body to dispose of don't burn it, you'll still have a lot left.

[@MrGadfly772]

I have been a type one diabetic for over 50 years. Now I guess I have just one more thing to worry about.

[@willo7734]

Great presentation! I think the acetone theory is the most scientific I’ve heard so far. I’ve been reading about these SHC cases since I was a kid. I had a big black hardcover book called “Mysteries of the Unexplained” that used to creep the hell out of me and still does 30 years later when I see it sitting on the shelf to be honest.

[@BeeLZBeeb]

My friend had that book, we used to pour over it together, the spontaneous human combustion thing always scared me most.

[@emma-511]

Yey! Always delighted to see one of your videos drop 😊

[@Computra]

Thanks!

[@CinziaDuBois]

Thank you SO much!

[@Rikki-Tikki-Tavi]

So macabre, so fascinating, thank you! 😍

[@nightspore4850]

Really fascinating. I’ve never heard a more coherent explanation of this phenomenon. Very well delivered presentation. Thanks.

[@jacobgoss8731]

Super interesting! I've seen a handful of videos on this subject and never seen one that suggested a cause like you did at the end

[@gh0st0rbzz18]

I literally just wondered abt spontaneous combustion a couple days ago bc a classmate mentioned it lol

[@XJMX]

Charles Dickens even put spontaneous human combustion in Bleak House!

[@varalys]

Just wanted to say I found your channel last night and have been binging it. I'm always after new history channels to follow and yours is excellent. New subscriber here!

[@alanthemighty]

Very intriguing! Great Vid!

[@srose1088]

I remember I had to do a report on this for school, and my chemist uncle was like, "... why?"

[@JasonBrown-st5if]

Wonderful as always lass

[@JohnDarwin7]

I so did enjoy this video thank you very interesting.🌹🖖

[@brinagotsued]

Truly fascinating, and it's so interesting to hear about the experiments that have been done!

[@MidnightMuse102]

Fascinating!

[@AlmightyRawks]

Great video on a very interesting topic!

[@jennyjumpjump]

You should've kept this episode for Halloween! This urban legend always scared me as a kid. The idea you could just burst into flames. So that's it! No more intermittent fasting, no keto diet, or exercise.

[@RU81111]

I really enjoy these videos, thank you for the work you put into them!

[@paulaunger3061]

Loved this - easily the most intelligent thing ever published on the subject of spontaneous human combustion 👍

[@Casutama]

Thank you for this video, I've been interested in this topic ever since reading Dickens but not interested enough to look into it yet! This was fascinating!

[@rrrosecarbinela]

Fascinating. Thank you.

[@saraphinacisneros8452]

I found this so fascinating!

[@matthewmulkeen]

The doggos crack me up, thank you.

[@letmebelighter7677]

This was so interesting!

[@MayaGasterMoll]

this video was fascinating!!! i remember reading a library book for kids on spontaneous human combustion and other sort of psuedoscience / spooky truths about the natural world, haven't thought about that in decades but now i'm remembering how curious it made me. thank you for indulging that hidden part of my childself!!

[@sebswede9005]

Plot twist: they were all vampires who exposed themselves to the sun.

[@LauPineda]

Wow… Incredible Thank you, I really enjoyed this episode.

[@gleann_cuilinn]

I really enjoy your historical investigation videos. You are very good at spinning a spooky yarn.

[@lyracian]

Glad to see another history video.

[@justintidwell7019]

Brilliant story teller … thank you!

[@marljusweety]

Fascinating. ❤

[@roxyride227]

Thanks! Great video!

[@TerryWilliams-wu8xc]

Fascinating, a little scary and funny.

[@George_M_]

Highly recommend the Bobs' song "Spontaneous Human Combustion", its an acapella masterpiece

[@haraldputensen7955]

Danke!

[@swankenterprizes]

Such a cute Pomeranian!

[@CinziaDuBois]

Thank you! Though I can't claim her as a Pom haha, she's a German Spitz

[@d.eadcreation]

I always love your vids!

[@habibbi77]

I think about the disappearance of SHC a lot. Like it figured hugely in my childhood, along with quicksand (which also turned out not to be the problem i thought it would be). I googled it recently and cases of SHC really trailed off after the introduction of cigarettes that go out if you don't drag on them. Almost like they were related or something 😳

[@lynseybowe8693]

Another fascinating video! Fire is one of my biggest fears thanks to growing up hearing sermons about fire and brimstone in hell. 😅

[@otherworldlyfiction]

Thanks for another awesome video.❤

[@germainelowpt7206]

I loved this!

[@HotDogTimeMachine385]

This video was fire!

[@ThomasCB777]

Apparently, as a diabetic, prone to ketosis, I should avoid open flame. Yet I process aluminium and copper regularly and have yet to spontaneously combust. Perhaps I’m just lucky. Very entertaining.

[@The_Void8]

Yess! I was thinking about you and suddenly there she was! Love this, I had this fear when I was a kid, after reading about it...😅

[@nickrhodes9031]

Cinzia does the T.C.A. cycle. That took me by surprise...and also took me back to lectures several decades ago. 😂

[@IndigoViolent]

The thing is, we know that bodies can be induced to catch fire under the right conditions because, well, they do that all the time. Anyone who's ever forgotten a piece of meat on their barbecue knows this, not to mention crematorium operators. That a chunk of raw flesh could potentially hold enough acetone that the fumes coming off it would ignite near an open flame is interesting, I guess, but it would be way more persuasive if the researcher had shown that people in ketosis give off huge amounts of acetone fumes.

[@BlackstreetBoys2Men]

Ayo this topic from this channel… I didn’t know I needed it but … YEEESSS

[@Phoenix2312]

Fascinating Video... I have always been deeply interested in the Myth of Spontaneous Human Combustion. I even recall the Legendary Bruce Dickinson doing a documentary looking into it and he also had similar conclusions after numerous experiments.

[@MegCazalet]

9:20 Oh no, I hope the father didn’t feel any guilt over this! It was a horrible, horrific accident. But I know how parents can be, and how we can blame ourselves for things really beyond our control. After such a nightmare, I would understand if he went though immense guilt, but I hope upon hope he didn’t. Poor dear man, caring for his disabled daughter even into his 80s, to see her go in such a brutal, random, sudden, unexpected, mysterious way. I feel so bad for all of them.

[@valmarsiglia]

Cool, was hoping you'd bring up Mr Krook.

[@user-ud6ui7zt3r]

There is an enzyme in the liver that will produce acetone in the event that someone drinks isopropyl alcohol. My personal suspicion is that Spontaneous Human Combustion is due to a thermite reaction, occurring inside the human body. Temperatures in a thermite reaction can reach 4000 degrees Fahrenheit. The human body contains a lot of iron.

[@omnirath]

You have sources backing up this thermite reaction ? There might be iron in blood but there’s not raw metal in it

[@user-ud6ui7zt3r]

@@omnirath I'm the only guy offering 'thermite' as a suspicion. If the idea has any legs, then somebody who holds a Phd. will "swoop in", publish a research paper, and attach their name to the idea. Like they say, good ideas are rarely orphans.

[@jackmcdonald128]

It's definitely an intriguing theory, but it seems it would be easy to test (e.g. By forcing Pigs into Ketosis). Or looking to see if there are increased incidents with the ruse of the keto diet?

[@jeremiahlarkins618]

Ms. Dubois reminds me of the book and movie fight club. The scene depicts the main character inspecting a burned out cat after an accident. It is noted that the driver had been fat by evidence that his fat had melted and burned certain synthetic materials in the seat with a pattern that denoted burning while the accelerant fat dripped downwards to the floor of the vehicle... Gotta love morbid authors.