70-Year-Old Man Bursts Into Flames In The Street While Horrified Onlookers Watch

Back in 1967, 67-year-old Mary Reeser was found dead by her landlord when she discovered that her tenant's doorknob was hot to the touch. All she found inside was Reeser's charred remains and a leg, which managed to survive the blaze.

A much more recent case of spontaneous combustion involves 70-year-old John Nolan. He simply burst into flames in the street while horrified onlookers could do nothing more than watch.

Nolan was flown to a hospital by an air ambulance after the incident. He died the next day as a result of his injuries which left 65% of his body covered in third-degree burns. As soon as the man burst into flames, onlookers rushed to help him, but there was very little that they could do.

The incident occurred mid-September, but even all of these months later, police could not explain what happened to him. His cause of death was listed as severe burns.

No arrests were made in connection with his death. The London Fire Brigade was not able to find anything at the crime scene that suggests that foul play was involved. There were also no signs that this could have been self-inflicted. Nobody else was hurt during the incident and there was no property damage.

A full inquest into Nolan's death will start in March 2018. In the meantime, police are asking for witnesses to step up and give their accounts as to how Nolan came to catch fire even though the people at the scene have sworn that nobody else was with Nolan when the fire started.

Spontaneous human combustion has been listed as the cause of death when police have discovered human bodies burned to ashes with the ignition point appearing to be internal. Coroners who have been to such scenes have noted that the air is sweet and smokey.

Throughout history, there have been close to 200 cases of SHC. Often times, these people were sick, elderly, or under the influence of alcohol which explains why the could not get away from the flames.

The very first case of SHC happened back in 1663 when a Danish woman "went up in ashes and smoke" in her sleep, strangely leaving her mattress fully intact. That is more than what can be said for the chair Reeser was in when she died.

Scientists have been stumped about these kinds of deaths for decades, but think they may have an answer now. They call it the 'wick theory.' It basically means that the human body becomes an inside-out candle. The person's clothes become the wick and body fat works as a wax that keeps the flames going. But, this does not explain what lights the fire.

One popular theory is that the fire starts when methane builds up in the intestines and is ignited by enzymes within the body. However, the victims appear to do the most damage to the outside of their body, not their internal organs. Others say that SHC happens as a result of a buildup of static electricity and that disturbances of the Earth's magnetic field could spark the fire. The point is that we really do not know what causes SHC. It is a total mystery.