7 Unsolvable Mysteries (That We Can Totally Solve)

2. Spontaneous Human Combustion

Ever since the 1600s, reports of spontaneous human combustions have trickled down throughout history. These bizarrely controlled human bonfires tend to reduce the torso to ash, but will often leave the hands and feet, or even the arms and legs intact.

What could cause a human body to burn in such a selective manner, apparently spontaneously and with no external source? Demons? Magic? Some weird Illuminati execution style?

Actually, it turns out that these people are probably just setting themselves on fire.

As opposed to bodies that are completely consumed when they burn in large fires, dropping a small source of ignition on the clothes, such as a cigarette or candle, will cause the body to burn like this. The person's body fat renders out and burns like an oil lamp, and the clothes act like a wick. The human body has a high water content and will be unlikely to burn on its own, if you've ever tried to burn a candle without the wick, you'll see why the areas not covered by clothes remain intact.

The victims of spontaneous combustion are often elderly, obese and/or alcoholics, making them less likely to be able to self-rescue and put the flames out.