Do ghosts prefer the dark?

I am a sucker for ghosthunting programmes, the good and not so good, i'll watch most of them.

One thing puzzles me though, why is it they always have to do the ghosthunt at night when it's dark?

Ghosts don't just come out in the dark, there are plenty of images that have been captured during the day.

Plus, in the daylight you'd see better and be able to discount anything that you might mistake as a spirit in the dark. I mean if you are in a darkened corridor and see a sheet slung over a door, that could look like all kinds of things. In the daylight, it's just a sheet on a door.

Half the orbs seen on camera at night are either moths or dust...or there is uncertainty so they are given the benefit of the doubt and put down to spirits.

Do you think the tv ghosthunting programmes turn the lights off for entertainment and spook value?

I also ask this because my ten year old daughter is fascinated by the supernatural, and always asks if we can do a ghosthunt at night. I'm a bit wary of freaking her out too much so said we could always go up to the local churchard and cemetary (1000 years old), in the daytime or at dusk and take some piccies to look at on the computer.

I just think that in the dark, the mind and eyes play tricks on you, therefore hindering any decent paranormal investigation.

CX.

As far as I know, ghosts don't have a preference...I lived in a haunted house years ago and things definitely happened during the day.
I think you hit the nail on the head...these programs choose night because it makes for a better, more spooky show.
Not that I'm complaining, I still love to watch them, even if it's not the best investigation.

reply to post by CX


Well, there isn't any evidence for ghosts beyond phenomena with possible mundane explanations (misidentification by witnesses, photographic errors, fraud, etc.), so it's anyone's (baseless) guess as to whether these things even exist, let alone whether they prefer the dark.

If we could get scientific evidence for them, then we'd be in a position to start researching them. Before that, it's an exercise in futility, which from its very conception can't demonstrate anything useful.

reply to post by dave420


Ah a sceptic i see? I take it you've never seen anything that would make you reconsider then Dave?

I know what you mean though, i guess it's the same as aliens, enough eyewitness accounts to know that there is definately something out there......but no actual proof.

CX.

speaking from experience,ghosts/orbs tend to show up when it is gets to the cold point of the day or night,the 1st time i saw an orb was about 3 years ago in my kitchen at around 4 a.m.,i thought it was a rat or mouse at first so i had to keep my cat from getting it,he was locked on it too,it moved from right to left and was the size of a small rugby ball,to this day i havent seen anymore orbs so until you actually see one for yourself there will always be that hoax factor attached to them,you might never see a ghost/orb or if you do it wil be at a time of their choosing,the programmes on t.v. like Most Haunted are so scripted it gives real people whos experienced them as coming across as complete fakes.

Hi Everyone, first ever post.


I think that because us as humans are almost instinctively scared (certainly uncomfortable) in the dark that we perceive to "see" things that aren't there as our brains, devoid of any visual stimulation, goes ever so slightly into over-drive and tries to compensate for what we can't physically see.

If there is anything electromagnetic about ghosts, you may have your answer. Ever notice how you can pull in long distanced radio signals better at night?

reply to post by Alxandro


That's because of the ionopshere. At night it's not being whacked by the Sun's radiation, so it's able to reflect radio signals, which increases their range. Unless the ghosts are very tall, they're not going to be affected by the ionosphere.

reply to post by dave420


I apologize for my overly simplified analogy, but yes you are correct. I'm well aware of how rf signals bounce off the atmosphere and thanks for the explanation. The point I was trying to make is whether it's possible that the Sun's effect could play a factor by weaking the strength of the energy these ghostly apparitions may be made of, which in turn can affect its visibility to the human eye.

I've been researching 'the paranormal' for a few years, and from what I've read\heard\seen, it seems that ghostly phenomena can certainly happen at any time, day or night.

I recently spoke with a man whose house had some ghostly activity. A mutual friend had been there and said he was witness to some paranormal happenings. The ghost(s) were only active in the wee hours..1AM - 5AM. Never in the daylight hours. The guy seemed to think the ghost(s) preferred the extreme quiet and stillness of those early morning hours.

I was under the impression that it was because "dead time" or 3 am is in the middle of the night. Apparently "dead time" is the opposite of the 3 pm time that is commonly accepted in Christianity as the part of the afternoon that Christ was crucified, so it's supposed to be opposite of that. It's what I heard anyway, not an expert

reply to post by shockedonlooker


I read an article by a Jesuit priest who had some experience in exorcisms and demonic oppression. He said the 3AM hour was significant because it is believed that Christ died at 3PM. This would make 3AM the 'opposite', and since demons like to mock Christ, they might use 3AM as their time.

Like everything else, people have exaggerated this idea to the point of claiming 3AM is somehow the standard, industry-accepted "paranormal hour" when ghosts are active.

I think its mostly some electromagnetic interference, ghosts seem to stay away, or at least less active near some devices, while others seem to be attracted or "channeled" by those (maybe it depends on the type of ghost?), but also, light condition probably plays a role in it, ghosts/orbs/etc usually being better seen in low light ambient, also the psychological factor inducing a "better mindset" to see it, in tv shows its mainly to scare though

It also depends heavily on the kind of apparition/manifestation, call them right and they may show on a sunday afternoon... But one thing, ghost and other things may use random things/mental confusion to manifest, so seeing some floating shape and then realising it was a sheet may have been a message or attempted contact of some sort, but that is too subjective to be fully taken in account in a serious ghost hunt (maybe as a sign or something, but not as a direct manifestation/proof), unless it was clearly something out of the ordinary and/or truly meaningful.

By the way, I usually don't even consider those "orbs" images, specially on old abandoned places at night, because all I can see is dust XP

Being an investigator with an open minded with a logical mind.

Physical, audible and visible phenomenon has been witnessed at all times of the day.
I have been been privy to witnessing phenomenon myself in the form of orbs, light anomalies and apparitions in the daytime.

Nighttime does give a distinct advantage for investigations because of multiple factors, less noise of the busy world, likely to be less interrupted if you are in a public access place such as a public house. The human body does become more sharp in its senses and alertness in the hours of night.

One of the main advantages is that photography and recording quality and definition is much more reputable when recorded at night time, because if there is strong light source such as the sun, the subtle light anomalies and orbs phenomenon wouldn't come up on a camera as the light behind them would "drown" them out. Imagine holding a lit candle in front of lighthouse light, and taking a photograph you wouldn't get a picture of the candle.

From NPN investigations and form countless other investigations done by other groups and organizations we know entities/spirit/ghosts do emit a electromagnetic energy field we know this, but what can they do with this? Energy can be forever changed into different forms, sound, light, heat the list goes on. the first two have a higher chance of being detected at night.

With the reports that come my way at NPN, more phenomenon is reported at night. Some would say it is our energies being shared or manipulated by entities that are present, others would put it down to a lucid dream state or even dreaming itself.

[edit on 19-4-2008 by KristianTNA]

reply to post by lw2525


Ordinarily i wouldn't choose to double post anywhere in a forum, but this is separate reply to a different highlighted issue. therefore deserves a separate reply.

I hadn't heard the 3PM 3AM jesus death/demon mocking theory before.

However 2 NPN members one of which was myself, we were going over in a conversation late last year, which the topic was that of if the human Spirit can and does leave the body at night, to do tasks and walk around astrally.
- If Orbs are the spirit form of a entity or indeed person. Based on a conclusion that most people are dismissive of spiritual travel most people would stick to ways they travel while awake, such as paths/sidewalks and roads. Also linking this with the studies done into REM sleep which occurs typically 2AM-4AM (though this has variables of when a person goes to bed and enters REM sleep, admitedly we generalized and hypothesized its around this time)

We could create an experiment to follow this loose hypothesis.
NPN would follow a distinct route around where i live considering living on a crescent road. Taking pictures at specific angles of wide view and of the same places on each trip out. do this once at 9pm to get a general count of orb phenomenon (which the area i live in, is quite active in this type of activity) again at 12Midnight then again at 3AM. To see if there is an increase of activity though the night.

The Orb activity count baseline at 9PM, was 31. increase of 17 between 9PM - 12MID. between 12AM-3AM with a increase of 24 orbs.
As we recorded 72 on our trip out at 3AM.

Seems like there is more activity at this time of the day, and could certainly fit into our loose hypothesis.

reply to post by CX

Do you think the tv ghosthunting programmes turn the lights off for entertainment and spook value?

You bet! You hit the nail on the head with that one. If in fact they had a "real" show about ghost hunting, no one would watch it. As most the time its a very boring process. You have to have a real passion for such things to endure the long nights, and long days of nothing happening.
Going threw places where some might sense something, yet have no real evidence to show forth.
I do enjoy some ghost hunter shows. Yet I do know deep down before hand they will either rig the sets to make something happen.
While the ghost hunters themselfs might not know they are set up before hand by the TV mananger crews.
Most the time, if nothing creepy happened why watch the show?

You have to realize that its TV.. And TV can not be trusted. THey are there for one thing, to entertain you!
And real ghost hunting is less than entertaining at times.

Also note that the dark gives the human mind an empty space so to speak.
The mind will create things that are either there, or are not there.
The mind is searching its best to find anything to process.

Have you laided in bed at night, and when your eyes adjust to the dark you can start to see? Stare in one section of the room and watch it get darker and darker. Shadows will seem to creep up around your vision?
I see this all the time, but its a play of my mind trying to find photons of light to process for my mind.
The mind is a powerful tool, and most ghosts, are photons processed by the brain.
You first have to understand everything you see that you belive is outside of you, is really just a copy of the processed informtation and turned into a copy within your own mind.
Everything is an illusion, and your mind creates copies, of the photons yours eyes and other senses process.
Ghosts to me are real. But yet agin they are energy, or frequency bands that my 5 senses can rarely process.
Some people are better at processing this frequency than others.

THus in ending.. Be it dark or not has NO bearing on where ghosts are.
They are part of us. We are part of them.. But in a way its very hard to understand that they are just light frequency processed by our minds.
And in turn our minds make up what we see.. Not what it really is.
No one has seen a ghost in its purest form. You have to be dead to see that for yourself. And when you are dead, its outside our frequency range. And outside the 5 sense world we know of. But this 5 sense world is only a small small fraction of what is, and what surrounds us all the time.
its like 00.00005% of all matter the 5 senses can process..
And thats not very much..

Hope that helps.

[edit on 19-4-2008 by zysin5]

I can't believe ghosts would even have to rely on Daylight Savings Time before they would be allowed to begin their hauntings based on their respective time zones of their place of death.

I've lived in haunted houses all my life. (I'm haunted).
Spooks 'do their thing' at all hours - day and night.

However - for ghost hunting purposes, it's easier to hunt them in the dark of night. The heat signatures from sunlight coming in go away, so infra red is better. It's easier to see glowing orbs too.

At night when the energies of the day have been put to sleep, it is a more ideal time to find ghosts. Just my oppinion.

You mention that you like watching Ghost Hunters. On the show Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson said that ghost are most likely to appear from 12am to 5am. The reason is they use LESS energy to manifest themselves to you.
They mention that on day time they would have to use a HUGE amount of energy just to get your attention because of light, sounds and other things around you.
Ofcouse the type of hunting matters also, because there are 3 types on entities.

Residual, Intelligent and Non-Human.
If you care to read more about it got to their official website. It's very good.

www.the-atlantic-paranormal-society.com...