Weekly News Round-up 8/22/12

MarthaVineyardpatch.com posted an article about early spottings of sea monsters. You can read it here.

The Week posted an article about scientist Rober Rine's fascination with the Loch Ness monster.

Cambridge News has an article on a proffesors breakthrough on spontaneous human combustion theory. You can read it here.

Spontaneous Human Combustion

This is one of those things that I’m not sure really falls under the paranormal category. But because we don’t currently have a universally accepted explanation, I’m going to talk about it. If you aren’t familiar with the concept, it’s basically when someone suddenly bursts into flame with no apparent cause. I’ve watched several shows and read a few articles on the subject and most people seem to believe that there’s some scientific explanation for S.H.C.

The problem is that no one seems to be able to come up with a solid testable explanation. Often cigarettes are given the blame but not every case involves people who smoke. Also the victims are often the only thing in the room showing signs of fire damage. While most of the victims of this phenomenon do not survive, a few have lived and are as confused about what’s happening as the scientists that try to understand it.

For years there have been legends about what causes S.H.C. Early on people thought it was the result of a demon or angry creature, or some sort of punishment from the gods. Many people still blame the paranormal. With few scientific explanations available right now and little way to test it, we are still left wondering what is causing this phenomenon.

What do you think is to blame for Spontaneous Human Combustion?