I guess I might have misinterpreted the goal. If the goal was to make the image look like it was daylight, then maybe whitewashing that light reflection was the correct choice. If the goal was to "see in the dark", then it seems like a very bad choice.

EDIT: Finally got the paper to load via the helpful wayback machine link provided in another thread. It looks like the goal was to simulate a long exposure with a short exposure. So whitewashing of "bright" areas in the original might be expected.