Turning off the lights for one really does no good. It will eliminate some EMF, but if there is still power coming to electrical equipment you are shutting off the lights for little or no reason. Unless you shut off the breakers (all electricity) to the house there is no sense in going "lights out". A majority of household electronics will still continue to draw electricity and can still provide "spikes" of electricity on occasion depending upon the item. Generally a plug in the wall means power is being used even if the item is off. So, if you are really going to go dark you would have to turn off all of the power from the breakers. Heck, you should turn off the water at the street as well since this can affect your readings...we'll save that for another day.

 Yes, my team uses Infra red cameras that "see in the dark" and we use them in the dark only when the case dictates so. Which leads directly to the next point; does the client experience things only when the lights are off and is stumbling through the hallways with a flashlight?

 Odds are; no. If you want to be "scientific" you should attempt to recreate the settings that the events happened in. Parapsychologists have been using this approach for over 125 years (yes, ghost hunting is not a new thing despite what you read on the internet) and it works. The best data you will ever get will be found by recreating the conditions in which the client observed them. Ghosts are about interaction and you're not going to be able to sneak up on them in the dark.

 I've seen videos (and worked with teams) that utilize baseline readings prior to an investigation. The problem is I've seen many of them doing these readings in normal conditions and then conducting their investigations sans light or power. What good are baseline readings if all you are going to do is change the conditions in which you are investigating?

 This approach is scientifically flawed.

 There is the popular thought that ghosts are somehow electrical in their makeup. I feel this is a pretty good basic theory. Part of the theory is that ghosts somehow get their "energy" from the living as well as man-made electronics. I'm not so sure about the latter part of the theory, but until we can test various theories who's to say. Some teams use electrostatic (ion) generators to help give a "spark" to the air (also cleans it up as well...less dust orbs...that's another blog) so why would we eliminate a potential power source for a ghost?

 Another aspect of investigating the scene under the conditions in which the client observed the original events is to help find logical solutions to the potentially paranormal problems. Good observers who simulate the original conditions will more likely be able to find logical solutions to various events than those who are merely out to verify the events through their own experiences. Faulty power or high EMF may be causing some or all of the experiences. Eliminating these sources for the client should be the first step in helping them. Yes, clients may want validation that what they are experiencing is real, but you owe it to them to eliminate the possible before considering the paranormal.

 Going "lights out" also changes the perceptions of the investigator. Sight is the most important sense we use on a day to day basis (though far from perfect). When you eliminate this sense we are forced to rely on other ones that are not as fine-tuned as our sight, which can lead to misperceptions about our surroundings. This setting also sets up for experimental bias by eliminating the objective experience and creating a completely subjective experience by the person involved in the investigation.

I have heard many claim that they can sense sound better in the dark. Sounds like a cool theory, but in reality our ears and eyes work together to gather information of our surroundings. Both sound and light are created by waves, our ears interpret the sound waves and our eyes create a sense of where the sound comes from. For our senses to work properly under normal conditions we have to provide them with normal conditions, otherwise we will find ourselves guessing about what we are perceiving in the environment around us. There are blind people that can see by way of echo location, but this takes a lot of concentration, training, and above all - lack of vision.

 Although Parapsychology has investigated claims of ghosts, hauntings and poltergeists for over 125 years, the amateur paranormal investigator field is still in its infancy. Many groups are finding discoveries that make sense, but many of these answers come through ignorance of alternative resources (they would have found these answers had they read about Parapsychology first). A self-correcting approach is what creates the flow of true science and groups experimenting, teaching and learning how to approach investigating these claims we can slowly eliminate the "popular" way of doing things for approaches that are more objective and focused on the client and not on the subjective personal experience.

 Hopefully this sheds a little light on the subject. Sorry, couldn't help that.