Sorry, I wasn't clear enough ... I agree with you in fact, it's not different at all except that I was imagining a pilot having the goggles on in those conditions who may have been lulled into a false sense of security that he could "see in the dark".
What I was imagining was a pilot, under pressure to complete a mission in marginal conditions, trying to rely on the goggles to see, then finding the visibility reducing around him and realising that not only could he not rely on the goggles, he wasn't prepared for the truly IMC conditions he now finds himself in. Too late, he's ripping off the goggles and doing his best to transition to instruments, panic rising ...
Just thinking about it makes me shudder ... and the difference is that maybe he would have turned back sooner if he didn't have the goggles. And that's what I was getting at two posts back ... having the goggles means there should be even better established mission limits for non-IFR pilots/machines and procedures for transitioning to full instruments under NVG's.
I apologise if my comments came across as particularly emotive related to that particular report.