Refused polygraph test.
He went on a TV documentary show, then facebook saying it happened to him not just once but three times, and that a doctor confirmed him with 'partial spontaneous combustion' where his skin cells spontaneously combusted and set parts of his skin on fire without warning.

His friend who was on the same sofa as him when it happened also refused a polygraph test. The man tried to open a donations fund to fund scientific testing and a cure, but did not receive any donations from people. Before selling his home he advertised his address on news forums about his case, asking people to send him mail and to donate.

According to a commenter on one of the news articles on him, neither his wife or daughter (who is 37 years old) knew about it. (He says this happened to him, in 1995)

Is it possible for skin cells to spontaneously combust? By metabolic heat or some build up of reactive chemicals/toxin?
I guess this question applies to the baby Rahul in India, whose mother says has caught fire on his own not once, but four times, and a fifth time counting her most recent baby. She angrily denied setting them on fire.

Welcome to the forum!



And, in answer to the two questions; No and no.

Partial Spontaneous Combustion Syndrome.... doctors are just *always* diagnosing people with that all too common ailment!

Not knowing who this guy is, I would hazard a guess he was on LSD and dreamt the entire episode up.

Always thought spontaneous combustion seemed a little...fishy. I have a few books I got when I was a kid, big anthologies of "unexplained events" like ghosts, automatic writing, hauntings, bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster (but of course we all know Nessie is real ), and yes, spontaneous combustion. It all used to intrigue me but spontaneous combustion always had a morbid fascination. I couldn't see how it could possibly happen the way it was reported.

Looking at stories with modern eyes is something I have another example of in my library...it's a book from 1933 called "Witchcraft and Demonianism : a concise account derived from sworn depositions and confessions in the courts of England and Wales", by C. L'Estrange Ewen.
It tells of witchcraft trials and the evidence presented, in detail, including what the women were supposed to have done, marks on their bodies, strange things they did, etc.
The interesting bit is that the book once belonged to Sir Raphael Cilento, who was once connected to my family in some indirect way. He was a medical doctor, and in the margins is tiny neat pencil lettering written by him. They look, with a modern doctors diagnostic eyes, at the descriptions of things affecting the "witches" at the time.
For instance there is the descrioption of the "Mysterious death of the Earl OF Derby", in 1594. It is a pretty detailed list of what the poor man underwent with dates and what happened each day, leading up to his death. Dr Cilento has written in the margin how many days are passing and finishes with "11 days" underlined. Obviously he is trying to work out what could be affecting the Earl with the symptoms described.
The book is full of underlining and tiny neat writing of latin names (presumably diseases) in the margins where the doctor, looking on with modern diagnostic techniques, notes what he thinks these poor women may have been affected by at the time centuries ago which usually led to their deaths for "witchcraft".
One case had a woman being repeatedly asked to renounce the devil, but eventually she couldn't speak..."a thing did rise up in her throat ready to choke her, but since, she will say it, and saith "she could not then for want of grace"...". Dr Cilento has written "Globus Hystericus" in the margin beside this...a swelling or hysterical closing off of the throat. Understandable given what these women might face if they didn't "renounce satan"...but in 1612 they would have seen it as satan "closing off her throat" to stop her denouncing him...she had "a want of grace" so wouldn't speak the words.

Spontaneous combustion stories always seemed to me to be odd...how could a body burst into flames and burn savagely but leave papers right beside the chair untouched, or delicate stockings left intact? Very odd...unless something was being left out. Or details added to the story which simply did not exist.

"Spurious Combustion" is more like it.

Debrab wrote:...
The man tried to open a donations fund to fund scientific testing and a cure, but did not receive any donations from people. Before selling his home he advertised his address on news forums about his case, asking people to send him mail and to donate.
...

Puts the "con" into conflagration IYAM.

Debrab wrote:I guess this question applies to the baby Rahul in India, whose mother says has caught fire on his own not once, but four times, and a fifth time counting her most recent baby. She angrily denied setting them on fire.

Munchausen's disorder, by proxy. Her kids should be taken into care & she should be admitted for treatment.

chairman bill wrote:

Debrab wrote:I guess this question applies to the baby Rahul in India, whose mother says has caught fire on his own not once, but four times, and a fifth time counting her most recent baby. She angrily denied setting them on fire.

Munchausen's disorder, by proxy. Her kids should be taken into care & she should be admitted for treatment.

I'm sadly reminded of reading many years ago of the shocking number of "cooking accidents" involving women in India and Pakistan...silly women trying to cook and spilling stove fuel all over themselves and then accidentally lighting themselves on fire...they should really be more careful...

Debrab wrote:He went on a TV documentary show

'Unsolved Mysteries' was about as a serious documentary as 'In Search Of...' Fun to watch sometimes, but not where you want to go for unbiased evidence, or even actual evidence.

and that a doctor confirmed him with 'partial spontaneous combustion'

A doctor who will never have a name no matter how many times you ask Frank/GaiaGirl/BlueSpike for it. They won't bother giving a direct answer to the question even when they quote it.

Is it possible for skin cells to spontaneously combust? By metabolic heat or some build up of reactive chemicals/toxin?

As Frank/GaiaGirl/BlueSpike has been told countless times before: No.