Written by: Michael Pierce

It seems that every time the topic of investigating the paranormal comes up, thoughts instantly go to picturing folks wandering aimlessly in the dark with cameras and flashlights.  The belief that paranormal activity is more active or best observed in the dark or between the hours of midnight and 3am has become quite regular.  This being the paranormal field, where new theories pop up on a regular basis, I find it odd that this particular presumption has been banked on for decades.  If paranormal activity is indeed real, what would possibly bring such activity to only transpire at night?  There are abundant explanations as to the beliefs of “going dark”, “witching hours” and “dead time”.  On the other hand, there are numerous countering reasons against the sole principle of such methods.

Through many interactions with clients and individuals, experiences in the paranormal have been witnessed throughout all hours of a typical 24 hour day.  Some cases have been documented having experienced such phenomenon only in the morning hours, or afternoon hours, or evening hours.  It’s not uncommon for such phenomenon to be experienced throughout the day regardless of time.  With this information taken into account, what would make one assume they can only investigate at night?

It is theorized that “ghosts” can be seen, heard, felt, and smelled through our physical senses.  It is also believed that in order to manifest or act out, an entity must gather or generate some form of energy.  This is quite reasonable, as my assumption is that such an entity is a raw collection of energy.  Let’s consider for a moment, that an entity is similar to a light bulb.  It’s not powered by a simple ON/OFF switch, it’s the sliding or rotating knob that allows you to dim or brighten the lights.  When the bulb is turned on at the lowest setting, the bulb is receiving a lower level of energy and giving off a low light, whereas when the knob is rotated further up, it provides more energy to the bulb which allows the bulb to shine brighter.  This is similar to an entity manifesting.

If an entity is compared to a dimly lit bulb which can fluctuate itself by utilizing the surrounding atmospheric energy, it’s believed it would be easier for an individual to witness such phenomenon in a dark setting.  Imagine turning on a flashlight and blindly tossing it into a field.  Would the flashlight be easier to find in a high or low light situation?  Obviously the flashlight would be almost effortless to track down and “see” in a low light situation.  This is believed to be the same with an entity manifesting itself.

Environments are commonly quieter and more peaceful at night.  The rush hour traffic has passed, neighbors have quieted down, and all is generally calmer.  I absolutely agree with this, though such conditions can be similar during the afternoon based on location.  An afternoon investigation can easily be as fruitful so long as the environment is controlled.  Not all locations are in a busy city or surrounded by boisterous noise contamination.  As with an evening investigation, if somebody coughs or steps on a creaky floorboard, if a car drives by, or the clients’ scared cat lets out a brief “meow” as it pounces at you from behind a dresser, make sure to state this on your recording device as not to contaminate your data.

Another strong belief is simply that most paranormal investigators aren’t doing so as a professional career.  Pretty much all of us have jobs, most of which that take place during the day which leaves only the evenings open for time to devote to investigations.  I honestly believe this is the “true” reason behind the high belief of night investigations.  In cases where individuals have experienced continuous activity in the afternoon, why would a group decide to investigate at night?  For situations like this, I’ve been excited and eager to put in that “Time Off” request at the office for the opportunity to capture actual data on such phenomenon.

We see all the movies and watch all the programs and it could be wondered why one would even be interested in conducting afternoon paranormal experiments.  I think it’s important to take the “fear” out of the paranormal.  Television shows and movies are made to be entertaining.  The general public wouldn’t get scared or entertained while watching a paranormal program unless it’s in dark, grainy night vision with scary elevator music looped in the background.  “Friday the 13^th” wouldn’t have the same effect if Jason only stalked his victims while roaming the beach on a beautiful, sunny, summer afternoon.  Darkness brings thoughts of the unknown, which brings along feelings of fear.  Researching the paranormal should not be scary or about thrill seeking.  As a researcher, I know there is a lot that is unknown about this field, but why should I be fearful of discovering anything?

Along with the stigma of the night being dark and scary because of what one cannot see, comes another great explanations.  In the low-light situations, people are actually capable of deceiving themselves.  In the dark, the fear of the unknown kicks in and the human mind begins to make assumptions.  Suddenly, a t-shirt thrown over the back of a chair looks like a person and the coat hanger on the wall looks like a big spider waiting to pounce.  In other situations, there could be absolutely nothing and an individual will “see” visions or hallucinations.  In darkness, you are reducing one of your main senses which then leaves you to rely even more on your other senses, which can literally play tricks on you.

Peter D. Slade states in his book, Sensory Deception, “individuals subjected to sensory deprivation procedures appear to have experiences approaching true hallucination and it seems likely that these subjects may be predisposed to hallucinate in some way.  None the less, the finding that some subjects can be led to hallucinate by a relative absence of sensory stimulation is of theoretical interest.”  (Page 104)

Predisposed to hallucinate or see things?  This is why paranormal investigators can only truly rely on raw data rather than personal experiences.  It’s possible, that if a person is put in a psychologically “scary” location and anticipates seeing a shadow figure, they very well may convince themselves to see such figures. 

By focusing on investigating only at night or in the dark could actually prove to be a downfall for paranormal researchers everywhere.  I believe that activity is happening all around us 24/7, but we only focus on it when we want to.  It’s not scary when the floors creek during the afternoon while you’re doing laundry, but at night it’s immediately unsettling. So long as a location is secured and controlled, activity can still be present whether it is day or night.  While the paranormal is filled with unknown elements, the stigma of fear must be put to the side as an unbiased investigator.