05/22/2026
Human combustion???
Main Line MUFON presents a free program on Tuesday, June 16, 2026, via Zoom- "The Conundrum of Spontaneous Human Combustion and Why Disbelievers Lie about It"
Larry E Arnold, director of PSI: ParaScience International
After leaving Lafayette College and a brief career in electrical engineering, Larry founded ParaScience International in 1976 to explore fortean anomalies and consciousness. His controversial article, published in August 1978, titled “Meltdown…at TMI-2,” would 8 months later be termed “uncannily accurate” by The Philadelphia Inquirer in presaging the future of that nuclear power plant's ‘impossible’ Class IX meltdown near his home.
This disaster led to his first book, The Parapsychological Impact of the Accident at Three Mile Island (1980); followed by The Reiki Handbook (1982); then ABLAZE! The Mysterious Fires of Spontaneous Human Combustion (1995), translated into Japanese (1998).
Larry first read about spontaneous human combustion (SHC) in junior high school and never forgot about it. Could it possibly be true that a person burns up inside a raging inferno that fails to ignite nearby combustibles, sometimes even a victim’s clothing? SHC debunkers are rampant; they often ignore and are always prejudiced against the facts. Rather than mimic them, Larry chose to actually investigate. After decades of archival research, conducting first-responder interviews and collecting astounding photographic evidence, he is regarded by many as the world’s leading advocate for SHC; hence, a pseudo-scientist, “mystery monger” and “world-class fool” by many others.
He is published in Life, Fate; Fortean Times (United Kingdom); INFO Journal, Pennsylvania Association of Arson Investigators (PAAI) Newsletter; Pursuit (Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained); Esotera (Germany); Science Digest, UFO Annual; UFO Report; and UFO Universe, among others. He has guest-hosted hundreds of radio programs, including The Howard Stern Show, The Art Bell Show, and multiple episodes of Coast to Coast AM.
He has co-produced a score of television programs about SHC, the most recent debuting in July 2025 on History Channel’s “The UnXplained Files” hosted by William Shatner, the second time Larry has explored SHC with Mr. Shatner. Larry always strives for accuracy about this astonishing topic, not always successfully. Because he was not consulted by three recent TV programs – The Proof Is Out There, Dan Aykroyd’s The UnBelievable, and Josh Gates’ Expedition Files – they sadly telecast blatant blunders about SHC.
ABLAZE! blows apart the debunkers’ ludicrous human-candle theory to refute SHC, then explores cellular phenomena, bioelectricity, quantum physics, Eastern medicine, the cartography of combustion, and more possibilities to explain this curious combustible conundrum. The mystery of Sudden Human Cremation, as Larry has repurposed the SHC acronym for its classic cases, awaits explanation(s). As to why, where, and when SHC happens? A Nobel Prize in Medicine should await whoever solves this perplexing, paradigm-shattering puzzlement.
His unofficial website is www.ParaScience.com.
Email is [email protected] and [email protected]
