Good point, Chris! Do you specifically mean car headlights, or orbs, such as some you have captured that show a trail, or is it something else you are referring to?

I would have to say that capturing long thin lights and movement that streak, even in the daytime it is due to the same principle. In NO way does this mean the captures are not of spirit, such as the orbs that leave streaks and other such things. But it implies movement that is faster than the camera shutter. So while the "film" is exposed between the micro-moment of when the shutter opens and closes, the object starts at one point and moves,leaving a line of its movement.

So, shutter Opens ----> ----> shutter Closes. Photo shows a long yellow tube which is the blur of all the running orbies.

The shutter opening and closing is slower at night, hence a longer period for an object to appear and move within the camera's view during exposure. But if a very fast moving object such as spirit is captured during the day, because it is sooo quick, it easily leaves a streak.

Hope this makes sense.

A case that comes to mind of major light movement within a tiny fraction of a second is the Dorothy Izzat case. She had numerous experiences with "something" that she interpreted as extraterrestrial. She would aim her Super 8 film video camera and get a single frame (1/18 of a second) containing lights such as this: