Peak Times for Paranormal Activity

There are many theories concerning when paranormal activity is at its peak. Some say that during "the witching hour"--or any time from around midnight to 3am--is when paranormal activity is at its highest. Others say that during the full moon or a thunderstorm you are more likely to experience unexplained phenomena. Solar flares are rumored to have an impact as well and most are aware that any change of seasons are suspect time periods. Finally, events like renovating a possibly "haunted" building will stir things up.

As far as I'm aware, these are all theories based on the anecdotal reports of paranormal investigators and ghost hunters, as well as others that profess to know and/or have experience with such phenomena. All of these theories are filled full of holes, and have no real data to back them up.

Take "the witching hour" for example. To adequately research the theory that activity peaks during the hours from midnight to 3am, an investigator would have to conduct investigations around the clock. If you are only doing investigations during this time frame, how in the world could you assert that activity is highest during these hours? There's no way you could know that. Also, you would have to set up on the same location 24/7 for an extended period of time to determine if there was credence to this theory.

Also consider the fact that during the night, background "noise" is at its lowest. There is less traffic, less possible interference from people, and of course less light. So, just because you capture possible activity more readily at this time doesn't mean that it's more frequent. It could be occurring all the time and you just don't notice it. Take the analogy of a flashlight. During the day, you can shine a flashlight and your average passerby may not even notice it. In the dead of night, everyone will certainly notice it. The stimulus, though the same at both times is much more salient at night because of the lack of background interference (sunlight in this case).

My hunch regarding these theories is that there are a lot of people that are simply repeating something they've read and/or they don't consider some of the confounding variables that I mentioned above, e.g. if I only investigate at night, of course I am predisposed to believe that the majority of the paranormal activity occurs at night. One needs to consider all the factors.

There is no real proof to back up these theories, though as opposed to actually proving a specific piece of "evidence" is paranormal--which is nearly impossible--the patterns of reported activity could certainly be documented and that data analyzed to determine whether there is any actual "proof" that reports of such activity show specific peaks.

Given that, as a paranormal investigator, I have nothing to add except for my anecdotal reports and impressions. In my experience, as evidenced by the number of clients contacting us through our Web site who are reporting potential paranormal activity, I do sense some patterns that emerge that seem to support at least two of these theories.

1. Renovations: Reports of paranormal activity seem to increase when major renovations are occurring in a potentially haunted location. This is rather difficult to say for sure, as some of these renovations are occurring when someone new is moving into the residence or business. In these cases, it's difficult to say for sure as to whether the activity itself is actually increasing or it is simply someone reporting phenomena who is not totally familiar with the location. If one owned a home or business for years, and conducted renovations, and reports of activity increased, then this theory would hold more water. Interestingly enough--again through my anecdotal observations--there does seem to be some credence to the theory that more paranormal activity is reported during times where a business or residence is renovated or remodeled.

2. Change of Seasons: There does appear--again simply from my anecdotal observations--that the reports of paranormal activity increase significantly during the change of seasons, e.g. spring and fall. This was a pattern that I recognized early in my "career" as a paranormal investigator, however, I always assumed the spike in the fall was due to Halloween and the general interest it raises specific to all things spooky, weird, and possibly paranormal.

However, over the years, though I do feel that Halloween does have something to do with the increased reports in the fall, I don't feel that all the reports in activity we receive during this are all due to this specific holiday and its connotations. In fact over the years, I've become to expect and anticipate increased reports of activity--by people I talk to as well as measured by the number of reports we receive via our Web site--during both the spring and fall. This year was no different and the pattern reflected past years: an increased number of reports that peak around October and November, followed by a lull, and then spiking rapidly in March and April. This year--2011--has been our busiest spring yet.

As an interesting aside, a psychiatrist friend of mine told me that some data gathered specific to increased psychiatric emergencies, admissions to psychiatric facilities, and/or or reports of increased psychiatric episodes/problems are not correlated with the full moon. Rather, they appear to peak during the change of seasons, e.g. March/April and November.

Of course, there are theories behind what causes these spikes in reports. Remember we are simply talking about reports of possibly paranormal activity here, not whether the activity is legitimately paranormal. Reports of activity is a simple variable that can be documented. The reasons behind these reports can be a widely varied as the reported activity itself and are probably impossible to tease out. For example, during the fall, people begin to spend more time inside and thus may simply be noticing activity that has always been present. Also, during the change of seasons the temperature varies much more widely and can cause all sorts of creaks, pops, footsteps, and other anomalous activity that is associated with the physical aspects of the location and not due to any purposed paranormal activity.

Still for whatever reason, I can say with some degree of certainty that the number of reports of possibly paranormal activity we receive do appear to be correlated with these two factors: renovations occurring at a location with previously reported possible paranormal activity and the change of seasons.

Proof of anything? Absolutely not! But we do know one thing for sure. The above constitutes more theoretical musings from a paranormal investigator who will probably never get to the bottom of things.

Bobby Elgee; Sights Unseen Paranormal