Question about flight levels

[outside_looking_in]

Do commercial jets fly at lower flight levels at night? May sound like a dumb question, but I could swear that as I look up in the day planes seem to fly higher than at night. Maybe it is cause the lights at night make the planes seem closer, but I could swear the planes are closer at night. Is this an optical illusion or are my observations right?

 

[RiddlePilot]

I'm no jet pilot, but I'm 99.999% certain they don't fly noticably lower at night (taking into account the temperature difference at night). Sounds to me like it's just an illusion caused by the bright aircraft lighting.

 

[derg]

Actually, light reflected off an object gives it the illusion of being at a further distance.

Direct light looks much closer because of a lack of distortion.

Compare trying to turn left on the road at night, compared to the middle of the day.