15 Comments on Why do most ghost hunters hunt for ghosts late at night instead of in the afternoon or evening?

shawn on Sat, 13th Feb 2010 6:53 am


because it’s all fake and just a scheme to make money P

Ambriel Willow on Sat, 13th Feb 2010 7:33 am


Most people seem to think that there’s more activity at night but I believe that you can get just as much data during the day. One thing is, though, at night the atmosphere is much quieter. This helps with being more certain about the things picked up on the recorder.

Poor taste on Sat, 13th Feb 2010 8:11 am


Most everybody knows by reading gothic ghost stories that ghosts only come out during the witching hours, right at the stroke of midnight.

inteleyes on Sat, 13th Feb 2010 8:20 am


One it’s quieter to hear, two it much easier to see them during the night because the light don’t go through them like during the day.
Spirit activity is greater during sleep hours because people aren’t moving around so much, they don’ normally like to be seen, or be around a place where there is always to much human activity.

Tomb Raider on Sat, 13th Feb 2010 8:45 am


Most paranormal investigators feel that this is the best time to pick up activity,they feel that this is the time that spirits are more active,it’s easier to pick up any type of phenomena on film.Usually they refer to this as dead time.

candylover1256 on Sat, 13th Feb 2010 9:09 am


they just do. Been like that for heck of a long time. Dunno, time when they come out?

Nice Guy on Sat, 13th Feb 2010 9:37 am


Because it’s spookier for one. For another most ghost hunters have jobs or go to school during the day.

overdriver64 on Sat, 13th Feb 2010 10:09 am


if a spirit does appear it will be easier to see without the extra light,most paranormal activity happens between midnight and 4 am dont know why though.

Nucular on Sat, 13th Feb 2010 10:45 am


The idea that ghostly phenomena are more likely to occur late at night is probably quite an ancient one.

Believers in the paranormal will tell you that they do their investigations/vigils/seances/whatever at night because this is when the ‘veil’ separating this world from the next is thinnest, or that the low light and noise conditions help to allow one to notice the very subtle phenomena that ghosts and spirits are able to cause.

On the other hand, low light and noise conditions cause us to notice *all* subtle phenomena which we don’t perceive in busier, daylight conditions: creaky floorboards, random thumps, central heating.

In addition, different animals are audible at night, some sounding quite ghostly (ever hear a screech owl at night?), and low-light conditions make flash digital photography more likely to pick up ‘orbs’ (dust particles and insects reflecting light very close to the camera).

Low-stimulus environments cause more perceptual illusions, and the fear we naturally feel at night, when we’re ‘supposed’ to be safe in our beds, help these illusions to be interpreted in a ‘ghostly’ way. Add tiredness – known to make one more likely to be scared, and to vastly increase the likelihood of perceptual mistakes – to this potent mix, and it’s little wonder ghostly goings-on seem more likely to happen at night.

psiexploration on Sat, 13th Feb 2010 11:23 am


The usual reason for this is that the investigators and homeowners work during the day, in public places like a courthouse or museum an investigation would be a disruption to the normal business operations.
So, there is nothing mysterious about this aspect of scheduling.

Another better (bet seldom considered) reason is that if the activity is reported at night then for the purpose of replication one should be where the activity took place, at the time it took place, and in the circumstances it took place. This would allow you to see any misperception like a shadow in the dark caused by a blowing curtain and a street light, etc. that you might miss if you investigated during the day with a different environment than the one the activity was reported.
This is a basic (often repeated) mistake on shows like Ghost Hunters that investigate until 10 p.m. and go home when the original activity was reported at 3:00 a.m. but again the schedules of homeowners and investigators is often to blame for this less than perfect scheduling.

Psiexploration

Thorg on Sat, 13th Feb 2010 11:27 am


Well, they’re all out to make money, and they make money by scaring people or creeping them out. Humans have a natural fear of the dark, so they do it at night. Basically, if you’ve seen the “Dead Celebrities” episode of South Park, that’s how it goes down. And to all of you acting like paranormal investigation is serious business, get off your high horse. It’s nonsense.

realpaganwoman13 on Sat, 13th Feb 2010 12:10 pm


It makes a good show.
Also, it’s usually when there are no people around and the place is quieter and it’s easier to get clean data.

If you can talk a business into shutting down for a day you could easily ghost hunt in the morning or afternoon… but you’d have too much daylight to cause shadows, and, depending on how busy the street is, you’d also have a LOT of outside noises (horns, air-breaks, people talking or yelling etc) that could/would make getting clear EVP (electronic voice phenomena) nearly impossible…..

And that’s why we hunt ghosts at night.

Monkey dust on Sat, 13th Feb 2010 12:11 pm


because its scarier at night

Cameron on Sat, 13th Feb 2010 12:18 pm


because ghosts mostly show them selfs in the dark very rarely the day and ghosts cant see you in the day and they can at night!

swrong on Sat, 13th Feb 2010 12:25 pm


Paranormal activity can occur both day and night.I’ve lived in several haunted houses, and most of my activity occurs at night (usually between 1-3am), less activity during the day. I think you’d be more apt to capture the phenomena at night. There’s less human activity (cars passing by, phones ringing, people talking, etc) in the night hours, so that’s less problems hampering their investigations.

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