Why Night Shift Workers See Things: The Science of 3 a.m.

Night shift workers report more unusual experiences than the general population. The science offers partial explanations.
Real stories from the graveyard shift
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Night shift workers report more unusual experiences than the general population. The science offers partial explanations.

I have taken thousands of 911 calls in fourteen years. The one from mile marker 71 is the one I cannot explain.

I have worked the night desk at the Pinecrest Motor Lodge for eleven years. Room 6 is different.

Editor’s note: The following account was submitted by a contributor who worked night shift on a medical-surgical floor for seven years at a regional hospital in the mid-Atlantic United States. Details have been edited to protect patient privacy and the…

Night shift workers report seeing things that aren’t there at four to seven times the rate of their daytime counterparts. This is not superstition. It is documented, reproducible, and has several overlapping explanations that are individually fascinating and collectively unsettling.…

Submitted by a contributor who drove long-haul routes through the northern Midwest for twelve years. Details have been edited to protect identity. The route, the mileage markers, and the timeline are presented as the contributor recorded them in a journal…

Submitted by a contributor who worked overnight security at a corporate office complex in the Pacific Northwest. Details have been edited to protect the identity of the contributor and the facility. The contributor continues to work in security but has…

Submitted by a contributor who worked as a night shift RN at a long-term care facility in the rural Midwest. Details have been edited for clarity and to protect patient and facility identities. The contributor has since transferred to a…

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