tcm what you're experiencing is more than likely psychological not real.
I have aproched that odd vision curiousity as scientificaly as I can. I am aware of the phyoplogical aspects of sudden sensory deprivation. However I have done many self tests to see if it was my imagination or not.
I have had this wierd visual oddity all my life. When I was young being in total dark scared the crap out of me! There were to many unexplainable things I could visualy percieve but only when my eyes were open.
I always had to have a small light in my room to make the static fuzz (ghosts) go away. I do not believe in ghosts.
I have done these tests many times too. I heat my house with a hot water boiler that is in a room attached to my shop.
I do this experiment late at night when there is no moon and its cloudy too.
Its as dark as it can get.
In pitch dark conditions in the winter is best and what I visualy precieve is a very fine static fuzz when my eyelides are closed. But when they are open it deminishes. On a hot summer night it is the reverse. When my eyes are open has more static fuzz than when they are closed.
However I precieve the warm objects not so much as light but as a heavier or more consentrated part of this random static. Straight on looking I do not actualy see anything, but its more at a slight angel away from my fontal focus and more towards my periferal that is where I percieve these contrasts the greatest.
I have to constantly be moving my eyes around randomly to actualy hone in on an object.
I have on many occasions had the boiler room doors open to the outside at very cold temperatures. When there is a good heat difference between the inside inviroment and the hot boiler I have shut off all lights in my place and still been able to make out the boilers primary shape, front door and stack. Even after much moving around. (the boiler is flat black in color an dirty too)
my non contact IR thermometer says the temps to be around 180 F on the boiler sides and around 325 F on the front door and stack.
The door and stack seem to have the greatest percieved static fuzz density also.
I have also taken my IR thermometer and pointed at what I thought was a warm object (after moving around) Then turned on a small flashlight and found I could point right at the item with good repeatable accuracy.
Plus When my shop has been cold for some time I have done that test in there as well. When the big air compressor has run for a while I can see the outline of where the compressor head is when it is hot from about 15 feet away.
I have done this experiment once when I parked my snow blower in the shop late one night too. I turned everyting off waited several minutes in the dark and walked from the front to the back of my shop,(walked right into the back wall
) moved and looked around for any sign of percievable light and walked back.
I bumped into several objects that were at the ambiant temp but still the snow blower engine had a enough observable static fuzz for me to find it and reach out and touch the top of the engine first try, even after walking away and back over fourty feet and around a few large objects that I bumped into.
Yea I know its strange but I sware I can still see the difference in tempuratures if there is a enough contrast.
It does not work reliably every time, but still a large enough amount of times in my life I have felt I had repeatable proof enough to conferm it.
I dont think I am nuts but thats not really for me to deside!