1988, January 8: Southampton Man’s Fiery Death

The Legend:

On January 8, 1988, an elderly man (over 65 years of age) was found incinerated in his house in Southampton, Hampshire, England, by neighbors who were investigating the smell of something burning. Only his legs and feet were left intact. A hole had been burned through the floor under the spot the body had been; other than this, there was "little surrounding damage to the room."

Unreliable

        This is the first listing of this incident in Anomalies, and therefore will require more research to confirm it. This is especially true because the above comes from Jenny Randles and Peter Hough's 1992 book, Spontaneous Human Combustion; this book gives almost no sources for the accounts it relates, in this case attributing it to "Author's own investigation"... which essentially means "Just trust us." For this reason, this account is marked as both "Unreliable" and "Investigate;" I will add new information as I get a chance to dig further.