It has the power to sway the ocean’s tides, but does it have the power to sway human behavior?
The full moon hits its peak tonight and some believe that means more strange events, more births and more romances.
“I think it’s a old wive’s tale, but I swear by it,” Marietta Fire Capt. Tom Dempsey said. “Whenever there’s a full moon there’s something off the wall going on.”
Thirteen full moons have, or will, shine in 2002.
“It’s not an increase in runs, but more the type of run,” Marietta Fire Chief Ted Baker said. His fire crew agreed and said they see the strangest runs in the few days before, during and after a full moon.
“I don’t know what the explanation is,” Baker said.
The explanation varies, depending on who you talk to, but most experts agree the full moon does not exert any direct power over human behavior.
“There’s never been the evidence that the full moon directly leads to an increase in crimes or unusual behaviors,” said Marietta College associate professor of psychology Mike Sibicky.
“There may be a blip on the screen of a high amount of activity during a full moon one time and everybody will remember it. They look up and it’s there. ... it’s an easy explanation,” Sibicky said.
But the next time unusual activity spikes and there isn’t a full moon, Sibicky said people then tend to forget the instance, because there is no visual reminder. Everything evens out, but the memory only recalls the activity on full moon nights.
Sibicky admits a clear summer night with a full moon will bring more people outside and that may lead to more activity.
“There’s more light, the weather is nice, people are out ... (but) it’s not directly the moon or the light,” he said. “Other lights don’t cause aggressive behaviors. The astronauts didn’t go crazy when they went to the moon.”
Births are also said to increase during full moons, but Marietta Health Department statistics tell a different story. The least amount of babies (10) were reported born during the eight full moon nights so far in 2002. That is compared to 14 births on the new moon nights, 15 births on first quarter moon nights and 22 births on last quarter moon nights.
Marietta police officer Pat Gragan sees no connection with the full moon and evening runs.
“I’ve worked here for over 15 years, and it flat-out doesn’t have an effect,” Gragan said. “More people are out a little later, but that doesn’t mean more calls. If you are a burglar, you are going to wait for a dark night.”
Gragan said there are many other more accurate predictors.
“Thursday nights are the worse for me,” Gragan said. “On weekends everyone expects the police to be out in force and so it’s usually quiet. Less people take a risk.”
Gragan said police tend to see a jump in drug and alcohol violations at the beginning of the month. Gragan said crimes stemming from frustrations frequently come at the end of the month when cash is low.
Even if these trends exist, Gragan said police officers are taught not to be creatures of habit.
Something often happens on the nights it’s least expected, Gragan said. One thing Gragan does see with a full moon is more couples walking around at night.
“It’s romantic, people go down and sit by the water and see the moon’s reflection off the water.”
Associating the full moon with behaviors can lead to a change in the way we act, said Washington State Community College associate professor of social and behavioral sciences Bill Bennett.
“I don’t think it’s the full moon, I think it’s the beliefs. If you expect something to happen it likely may happen. It’s called a self-fulfilling prophecy.”