The first thing I thought of too! I was waiting for the driver of the Old Spice car to come put out the invisible fire on his friend!
Shake and Bake!!!
I’ve always wondered if they could use an additive that will show a color when on fire.
Similar to what we do with gas stoves. They add a smell to the gas so we can smell it.
It would be good if they could add something to the fuel that would show a color or something when it catches fire.
It wouldn't be as good as a fuel then. They use it in these race cars because it burns so efficiently (a large reason why it's hard to see the fire) and adding something would reduce that efficiency and defeat the purpose of using it.
That would only make sense if there weren't already other rules established for safety. Mandatory crash test standards, safety cell, engine type standardization, fuel tank limit, engine rpm limit, max and min power output, etc.
This would be no different.
Thats not a good reason. There are tons of rules that make the race cars slower. By your logic they should have roll cages because it makes the car slower. This would just be another safety rule that applies to everyone so everyone is affected by it equally.
It's up to FIA's decision. They put lots of safety measures in the recent 20yrs as the old style "as fast as possible" killed too many racers and led to potential public relation issues which harm their welcomeness.
Alcohol actually doesn't burn efficiently, which is part of why you use it. Alcohol absorbs heat from the engine and doesn't detonate without a spark so you can get crazy compression and force hot air on top of it while cooling the charge without the engine eating it's self alive. Alcohol has half the BTUs as gasoline, and if you ever walked by a race car and had your eyes burn that was the unburned fuel wafting through the air.
An easier solution would be an infrared lens of some kind. These flames are invisible to the naked eye but do emit tons of light in the infrared spectrum
So to answer quickly yes now they now do put addives in alcohol fuels for visability.
So this is the 1981 Indianapolis 500. The car you are seeing is the car of Rick Mears only 1 of 4 to win the Indy 500 4 times. At the time they were using methanol as the fuel for these cars and continued to do so for years. In 1997 they started mixing additives to the methanol for it to be visible.
In 2007 they switched to a 49:1 ethanol to gasoline mix.
Ketosis paired with falling asleep while smoking a cigarette is what I heard was the cause. I could be wrong, and I don't remember my source, so, grain of salt.
I'm going on a Keto diet and gonna force myself into ketosis.
I will also try smoking a cigarette while falling asleep naked in my driveway while in Ketosis to test this.
If I don't reply to this thread in 5 days. You know it works.
I doubt it. I'm a type 1 diabetic who hasn't always taken care of his disease. The kind of ketosis I can go into is far beyond what anyone on a keto diet can do, my blood has turned to acid before. Kept smoking the whole time and never exploded. I can't think of any reason why ketosis would make you more flammable. Its a state in which your body either isn't or can't get energy from carbohydrates and blood glucose they cause (you need insulin to be able to use the sugar in your blood). Burning fat produces very harmful acids called ketones. Too many ketones will turn your blood acidic and poison you, but a normal person can't get that far.
Yeah and if it was not understood its doubtful people would have attributed death to combustion anyways. Just call it witchcraft and burn one of the local girls. Case closed.
The fact that you can tell where the fire is when they use the extinguishers is mad. They're spraying the extinguisher and it just stops mid air, and that's the fire. Terrifying
https://www.essentiallysports.com/nascar-news-invisible-fire-at-the-nineteen-eighty-one-indy-five-hundred-sets-the-nascar-community-ablaze-after-fans-make-talladega-superspeedway-nights-connection/
A great writeup on the incident.
His dad saved him:
*Unfortunately, the fire extinguisher failed to deploy during that instance, leaving Mears frantically screaming for help and jumping around to find something to put the invisible danger out. He shared, “And I start looking around, and I see my dad running around, and he comes running around the corner, and he’s the only one that really knew I was on fire because he knows me and knows I don’t move that fast for anything, so I had to be on fire.”*
*Mears’ father was well aware that his son was on fire at this point, but he couldn’t get close enough to put the fire out without risking himself, as he was not wearing any fire protection! While his father came to his rescue and eventually put the fire out, Mears concluded, “That was a long 34 seconds.”*
I was at this race. Rick Mears had facial burns and you could still see the damage it did years later, his nose was scarred and different.
There is an international sign for I am choking. Perhaps it’s time for an international symbol for I’m on 🔥please help! It looked like they were the next contestant on the Price Is Right.
You can almost see the heat, see the wiggling air on top of things. It also kinda looks reddish tint whizzing around, I know this because sometimes I deal with IR polution when using ND filters (I’m a video guy) Methanol fire must be pretty bright near invisible infrared spectrum
Check out the Benetton fire in F1 German GP Max’s dad was driving the car and about a cup of fuel was spilled one of the reasons F1 does not fuel cars during the race
Unless the rules have changed very recently, I thought the teams in F1 formulated their own fuels. The fuel must be made of components used in highway gasoline/petrol, but the amounts of the components could be formulated by the teams. So F1 cars shouldn't have issues with methonal fires if they are using formulated highway gas? Or is the incident you are describing not related to an invisible methonal fire?
Hydrogen fuel burns invisible like this...we installed thermal cameras at my old job at the fuel dispensers with *very* audible alarms for this very problem. Wonder why they wouldn't just install something similar at sections of the pit stations to combat this.
The solution they decided on was to make the fuel a gasoline mixture so that the flames could be seen by the naked eye. Thermal cameras are a drastically more expensive solution
What other stuff? Keep in mind most stuff and racing is built to be flame retardant, and so most of the stuff won’t burn until it’s been on fire for a long time. But if you are curious, you actually can visibly see scarring after a few days on some of these people. Ironically, the scary part is that the skin is the thing that’s most likely to burn first here and not the suit nor the car.
For those who think it was bee ..it was actually methanol fire that work as invisible fire. at a day you cant see it and you can see it in night without any light
I rarely comment, mainly lurk, but this one struck a nerve for me. My dad worked a little bit on a race track and he used to tell me they were required to carry a roll of toilet paper just to see if there was flames in an accident that may have caused a fuel spill. I thought it was crazy and this is actually the first time I’m seeing footage of this!
#If you are wondering: invisible fire. [https://youtu.be/1ZEEuCHdWFA](https://youtu.be/1ZEEuCHdWFA)
Watching this without sound was incredibly confusing, thank you for the explanation.
Wow yeah, I was watching without sound too at first and thought it must be something of a celebration after winning.
I thought it was bees at first. Lol
Invisible bees are no joke!
I thought it was chemical spills or acid or something like that.
Me too! 😂😂😂
I had thought it was chemical spills or acid or something like that.
Oh Spade, why did you put Farley in charge of the bees?
Run! Your firearms are useless against them!
Alcohol fires are invisible... 😳
no, you can clearly see that they are dancing. it was a dancebattle between the driver and the mechanic
Dance off, bro! Me and you! - Star Lord
I've seen this before and forgot about it. But as you said, watching this without sound was confusing.
Is this where Talladega nights got the idea for that scene from?
Save me Tom Cruise!
Yes exactly.
Thanks!
Invisible fire is the scariest shit ever
Damn! That’s interesting.
Thankfully these guys were ok, but I immediately thought of Ricky Bobby, I wonder if this is where they got it from. 
The first thing I thought of too! I was waiting for the driver of the Old Spice car to come put out the invisible fire on his friend! Shake and Bake!!!
Yeah there were a few accidents from this time period that inspired that scene. It actually was a real danger back then
Thank you for explaining what was happening.
They weren't burning though? No smoke whatsoever?
Their race suits were protecting them, they can still feel the heat especially on the exposed parts of the body
“You’re not on fire Ricky Bobby”
Why doesn't Tom Cruise or Oprah Winfrey save him with their black magic?
But how did he get down to his underwear that fast?
1st shit that came to mind while watchin the video lol
I didnt know this joke was based on a real thing. Invisible fire sounds terrifying.
Fawwwk you beat me to it lmao
Where’s Tom cruise when Ricky needs him?
Now that scene makes way more sense as plausible!
I’ve always wondered if they could use an additive that will show a color when on fire. Similar to what we do with gas stoves. They add a smell to the gas so we can smell it. It would be good if they could add something to the fuel that would show a color or something when it catches fire.
It wouldn't be as good as a fuel then. They use it in these race cars because it burns so efficiently (a large reason why it's hard to see the fire) and adding something would reduce that efficiency and defeat the purpose of using it.
It would decrease the efficiency of all cars equally though, so that’s not a reason not to do it
Yes it is, they are not using that fuel to beat competitors, but to beat time, if that makes sense.
I try to beat time when I leave home at 8:07 a.m. for work that starts at 8 a.m.
It's possible, maybe, just gotta go a bit faster than the speed of light.
Ludicrous speed! GO!!
They've gone to plaid
Just a little bit
You just need invisibler fuel
That would only make sense if there weren't already other rules established for safety. Mandatory crash test standards, safety cell, engine type standardization, fuel tank limit, engine rpm limit, max and min power output, etc. This would be no different.
Nope. There is a ton of safety equipment installed on these cars that add weight, slowing the cars down equally.
I’m not a motor sports guy, but I assume the goal is to beat everyone else.
Then why regulate anything at all?
It's gonna gum up the inside the engine
Thats not a good reason. There are tons of rules that make the race cars slower. By your logic they should have roll cages because it makes the car slower. This would just be another safety rule that applies to everyone so everyone is affected by it equally.
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It's up to FIA's decision. They put lots of safety measures in the recent 20yrs as the old style "as fast as possible" killed too many racers and led to potential public relation issues which harm their welcomeness.
Alcohol actually doesn't burn efficiently, which is part of why you use it. Alcohol absorbs heat from the engine and doesn't detonate without a spark so you can get crazy compression and force hot air on top of it while cooling the charge without the engine eating it's self alive. Alcohol has half the BTUs as gasoline, and if you ever walked by a race car and had your eyes burn that was the unburned fuel wafting through the air.
everyone would still be on a level playing field
Maybe add the burning color to the clothes
See, that is a great idea.
i was thinking whoevers in charge of the extinguisher should have some thermal goggle or something
Maybe the extinguisher has a colorant that will change the smoke/fire color or something. Some very good ideas here.
Not as helpful in bright daylight
An easier solution would be an infrared lens of some kind. These flames are invisible to the naked eye but do emit tons of light in the infrared spectrum
So to answer quickly yes now they now do put addives in alcohol fuels for visability. So this is the 1981 Indianapolis 500. The car you are seeing is the car of Rick Mears only 1 of 4 to win the Indy 500 4 times. At the time they were using methanol as the fuel for these cars and continued to do so for years. In 1997 they started mixing additives to the methanol for it to be visible. In 2007 they switched to a 49:1 ethanol to gasoline mix.
You just have thermal goggles on standby so they can see the heat
Imagine an ethanol fire before it was understood. People must’ve thought the devil was claiming the soul. *methanol, sorry
This not an ethanol fire. It's a methanol fire, which burns with a clear flame.
During the day it's invisible, but In the correct, low light conditions it's mesmerizingly beautiful
lmao, i imagined you in the crowd, middle of the night, ppl on the track jumping around on fire, and you saying *it's mesmerizingly beautiful*
Sounds like something non-blindfolded people would say in the movie Bird Box.
the movie sucks, try the book, much more thrilling
Thanks for the recommendation!
Thanks for the recommendation!
Show me people burning at night.
Is that the new Rihanna single?
I wonder if that's the cause of the myth of spontaneous combustion??🤔
Spontaneous combustion isn't a myth. Spontaneous human combustion is said to be a myth though.
I appreciate your precision to clarify the statement. This is what I was implying but I can see how it could be misconstrued.
Ketosis paired with falling asleep while smoking a cigarette is what I heard was the cause. I could be wrong, and I don't remember my source, so, grain of salt.
I'm going on a Keto diet and gonna force myself into ketosis. I will also try smoking a cigarette while falling asleep naked in my driveway while in Ketosis to test this. If I don't reply to this thread in 5 days. You know it works.
Ok, Katniss. ..but, maybe, don't. Killer username, btw!
The why files has an episode about it on youtube
I doubt it. I'm a type 1 diabetic who hasn't always taken care of his disease. The kind of ketosis I can go into is far beyond what anyone on a keto diet can do, my blood has turned to acid before. Kept smoking the whole time and never exploded. I can't think of any reason why ketosis would make you more flammable. Its a state in which your body either isn't or can't get energy from carbohydrates and blood glucose they cause (you need insulin to be able to use the sugar in your blood). Burning fat produces very harmful acids called ketones. Too many ketones will turn your blood acidic and poison you, but a normal person can't get that far.
You hear this from Shaman Matt?
Why? Spontaneous does not mean invisible.
Yeah and if it was not understood its doubtful people would have attributed death to combustion anyways. Just call it witchcraft and burn one of the local girls. Case closed.
1. Its invisible 2. They're drunk! and 3. The local preacher warned them the devil would be claiming their soul.
That's messed up and scary as fuck. Here is a sampling from YouTube https://youtu.be/1ZEEuCHdWFA?feature=shared
Yea these dudes are burning in front of our eyes and we don’t even see it
I thought it was a comedy skit till I seen your video lol 😂
Nightmare fuel
I wish I could give you an award lmao
Omg I never knew about methanol.fires. I didn't understand what was happening at first. That is scary AF 😳
The fact that you can tell where the fire is when they use the extinguishers is mad. They're spraying the extinguisher and it just stops mid air, and that's the fire. Terrifying
Help me Tom Cruise!!
Help me Oprah Winfred!
Save me with your witchcraft!
Beat me to it
https://www.essentiallysports.com/nascar-news-invisible-fire-at-the-nineteen-eighty-one-indy-five-hundred-sets-the-nascar-community-ablaze-after-fans-make-talladega-superspeedway-nights-connection/ A great writeup on the incident.
His dad saved him: *Unfortunately, the fire extinguisher failed to deploy during that instance, leaving Mears frantically screaming for help and jumping around to find something to put the invisible danger out. He shared, “And I start looking around, and I see my dad running around, and he comes running around the corner, and he’s the only one that really knew I was on fire because he knows me and knows I don’t move that fast for anything, so I had to be on fire.”* *Mears’ father was well aware that his son was on fire at this point, but he couldn’t get close enough to put the fire out without risking himself, as he was not wearing any fire protection! While his father came to his rescue and eventually put the fire out, Mears concluded, “That was a long 34 seconds.”* I was at this race. Rick Mears had facial burns and you could still see the damage it did years later, his nose was scarred and different.
The invisible flame. Fuck this has to be scary as fuck to be on fire like this
I thought they were being stung by bees for pretty much the whole video.
I did not know there were fires you cannot see
Methanol is one of the scariest fires
This was a Methanol fuel fire, which is invisible. Hard to put out because you cannot see it, but you can feel and get burned by it!
I remember watching a movie about this , I think it was called Talladega nights
At near the start of the video you can see the heat waves above the car
There is an international sign for I am choking. Perhaps it’s time for an international symbol for I’m on 🔥please help! It looked like they were the next contestant on the Price Is Right.
The fucking invisible fire. One of the most terrifying shit ive ever seen
Meth…anol Not even once.
You can almost see the heat, see the wiggling air on top of things. It also kinda looks reddish tint whizzing around, I know this because sometimes I deal with IR polution when using ND filters (I’m a video guy) Methanol fire must be pretty bright near invisible infrared spectrum
mega churches be like
The holy ghost.
Check out the Benetton fire in F1 German GP Max’s dad was driving the car and about a cup of fuel was spilled one of the reasons F1 does not fuel cars during the race
Unless the rules have changed very recently, I thought the teams in F1 formulated their own fuels. The fuel must be made of components used in highway gasoline/petrol, but the amounts of the components could be formulated by the teams. So F1 cars shouldn't have issues with methonal fires if they are using formulated highway gas? Or is the incident you are describing not related to an invisible methonal fire?
Hydrogen fuel burns invisible like this...we installed thermal cameras at my old job at the fuel dispensers with *very* audible alarms for this very problem. Wonder why they wouldn't just install something similar at sections of the pit stations to combat this.
The price for thermal cameras in 1981 would be astronomical, and racing in those days was fast & loose with safety in general
The solution they decided on was to make the fuel a gasoline mixture so that the flames could be seen by the naked eye. Thermal cameras are a drastically more expensive solution
This context of invisible fire makes me really respect how well crafted the joke in Talladega Nights was.
Is this edited or is it like an alcohol flame?
Not edited. It’s a methanol fire.
Damn that shit's scary
Yeah. People can't see that you're on fire, and you can't breathe to scream because you're on fire.
Invisible flame ?
During the day it is, but at the dark is a subtle blue flame
This type of fuel has a clear flame so you can't tell if there's fire or not.
Even if the methanol burns with a clear flame, why don't you see the flames of the other stuff catching fire after a few seconds?
What other stuff? Keep in mind most stuff and racing is built to be flame retardant, and so most of the stuff won’t burn until it’s been on fire for a long time. But if you are curious, you actually can visibly see scarring after a few days on some of these people. Ironically, the scary part is that the skin is the thing that’s most likely to burn first here and not the suit nor the car.
It is on fire. Watch the extinguishers get repelled by thr invisible flame.
Nobody got the drop and roll memo ??
How come he didn’t try to stop, drop, and roll?
TIL: invisible fire
Scary stuff
Hes on fire
Help them Tom Cruise
Explanation article -> https://www.essentiallysports.com/nascar-news-invisible-fire-at-the-nineteen-eighty-one-indy-five-hundred-sets-the-nascar-community-ablaze-after-fans-make-talladega-superspeedway-nights-connection/
A fire that you cannot see is the second most dangerous thing in the world!
Invisible flames at really scary
Ah yes. Methanol
Put an additive in the suits they wear that reacts. Make it mandatory.
Damn methanol fire. Invisible flames
r/invisiball
New fear unlocked.
 Don't let the invisible fire hurt my friend..
This furreal? Thought it was a bit at first
For those who think it was bee ..it was actually methanol fire that work as invisible fire. at a day you cant see it and you can see it in night without any light
Ethane fires are scary 😨.
I rarely comment, mainly lurk, but this one struck a nerve for me. My dad worked a little bit on a race track and he used to tell me they were required to carry a roll of toilet paper just to see if there was flames in an accident that may have caused a fuel spill. I thought it was crazy and this is actually the first time I’m seeing footage of this!
it's blue fire guys, you cant see it w/ your bare eyes
The old Ricky Bobby “I’m on fire” move. 
Thank you baby Jesus
Definitely bees!
Ricky Bobby was on fire
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When some pit crew members wore khakis.
They should ban that fuel from racing forever
Formula mime
PAIN.
Hmm somebody’s cooking something it smells like burnt hair
This clip has Monty Python vibes
Hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot. Hot.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0rOyEPJ-aro
 Oh no don't let the invisible fire burn my friend
I had no idea that the Ricky Bobby fire stuff was based on real events
Did we just get Ricky Bobbied?
Where is will smith maybe he can slap him on the ground
How did nobody stop drop and roll
Does stop drop and roll not work? At least it would bring attention to you from the guy woth the extinguisher
Etanol
I watched the whole thing and it's still a maybemaybemaybe for me...
the quote "you can't see it but it's there" would be great for a song
Bee in car. :D
Someone saw a bee.
Is this what Ricky Bobby meant when he said he was on fire?
Shit, I thought Talladega Nights actually happened.
Ricky Bobby was not so far-fetched now was it.
There's something you don't see every day.
Can't help to think about poor ricky bobby.
https://youtu.be/un2mDXh8AWY?si=mzGALk_kZSaThHnL
Ricky Bobby wasn’t making it up