Jack Angel (suspected spontaneous human combustion victim)
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Jack Angel is an individual who claimed to be a victim of spontaneous human combustion. Angel says that, on 1974-11-12 while working as a clothing salesman in Savannah, Georgia, USA, he parked in a hotel parking lot (in his trailer/showroom) and went to sleep. He claims to have awoken four days later, and noticed strange burn marks on his body. His right hand, he says, appeared to be burned from the wrist up to the fingertips. Says Angel, "It was just burned, blistered...And I had this big explosion in my chest. It left a hell of a hole. I was burned...on my ankle, and up and down my back, in spots."[1]
Angel claims not to have felt any pain after waking up, so he showered and dressed per usual. Nothing in his trailer appeared to be burnt - his clothing and bedding both appeared normal. Angel asserts that he then walked over to the hotel, where he collapsed on the floor.[1]
Angel woke up in a hospital, now experiencing immense pain. None of the doctors could explain what had happened to the man. The burning seemed to have happened in the tissue inside of his hand, and then continued up the inside of his arm. Angel's hand became infected and had to be amputated. Meanwhile, the trailer was searched, and still no signs of fire damage were found.[1]
This version of Angel's story contradicts with a 1975 testimony delivered to the Fulton County Superior Court in a civil-action suit filed by Angel's attorney: in the suit, Angel claimed instead to have been sprayed by "scalding hot water" after trying to fix his motorhome's water pressure.[2]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c Reader's Digest (1988). Facts and Fallacies. New York/Montreal: The Reader's Digest Association, Inc.. ISBN 0-89577-273-6.
- ^ Joe Nickell. "Not-so-spontaneous human combustion", Skeptical Inquirer, Nov-Dec 1996.
[edit] Further reading
- Larry E. Arnold (June 1996). Ablaze!: The Mysterious Fires of Spontaneous Human Combustion. M. Evans and Company, 227–236. ISBN 0-87131-789-3.
- Joe Nickell (November 1992). John F. Fischer: Mysterious Realms: Probing Paranormal, Historical, and Forensic Enigmas. Prometheus Books, 165–175. ISBN 0-87975-765-5.
- John E. Heymer (1996-04-11). The Entrancing Flame. Little, Brown. ISBN 0-316-87694-1.
