The Dead Of Night

The belief that spirit boxes work better at night than during the day is based more on paranormal folklore and perception rather than factual scientific evidence. The idea that they work better at night stems from several non-scientific factors:

Why People Believe Spirit Boxes Work Better at Night:

Psychological Factors: The night-time environment tends to be quieter, darker, and more eerie, which can enhance the feeling of paranormal presence. People are often more sensitive to unfamiliar sounds and phenomena at night due to heightened fear and expectation.

Reduced Interference: It's often argued that electromagnetic interference (EMI) is lower at night. Some ghost hunters believe this might make it easier for spirits to manipulate the frequencies used by spirit boxes. However, this is not scientifically proven in relation to paranormal activity.

Cultural and Media Influence: Popular culture has conditioned people to associate night-time with ghostly activity. Ghost stories, horror movies, and paranormal TV shows typically depict hauntings occurring after dark, reinforcing the belief that paranormal tools like spirit boxes are more effective during this time.

Scientific Perspective on Spirit Boxes:

From a strict scientific standpoint, the evidence that spirit boxes, or any device purported to communicate with spirits, actually works is debatable. Sceptics propose that random noises and phrases picked up by spirit boxes are typically caused by radio interference from various sources, including local radio stations, and the audio pareidolia effect, where the brain interprets random sounds as familiar patterns (such as words or phrases). However, with serious work using spirit boxes , paranormal investigators claim that they are able to know the differences between this and genuine spirit interactions.

At FCD Ghost Boxes, Nigel Mortimer has conducted several daytime spirit box sessions and it seems that the results are very similar to those during night-time sessions. He concludes that spirit box interactions are the same no matter when the session is concluded and points to other factors, like maybe where the spirit box session is being undertaken (the actual geographical locality) and who is involved in the investigation, as to how the device actually works.

Psychological bias: (e.g., expectancy effects and confirmation bias) can lead users to believe they are hearing meaningful responses when they are actually hearing random radio fragments.

Electromagnetic frequencies: fluctuate throughout the day based on a variety of natural and artificial factors, but no scientific evidence links these fluctuations to paranormal activity or improved functionality of spirit boxes at night.

Conclusion:

There is no factual evidence that spirit boxes work better at night or during the day. The belief that they do, is rooted more in psychological and cultural factors than in measurable science. Any perceived effectiveness is likely due to subjective experience rather than any change in environmental conditions or the actual period of time, days, etc.