I think there are plenty of us on these pages who have scared themselves fartless doing 'mortal' or 'reversionary' night flying in the past whether it is overland with dust or overwater with no references.
We are in the 21st century now and such high skill-level events should not be required in the offshore or corporate (see other threads) sectors - if only because the training/licensing system doesn't produce the guaranteed high quality output required to meet those events.
NVG opens up the world of night flying and makes it so much safer and less-stressful - every pilot who has flown using them will agree, I have no doubt.
Just move on.