Talking With Flashlights · Top Secret

You do not need a heavy brass telegraph machine to send secret messages. If you have a flashlight, you have everything you need to talk to a friend across a dark campsite or a bedroom without making a single sound.

The trick is turning the alphabet into a code of short and long signals. Though it is called Morse code, a clever machinist named Alfred Vail actually invented the famous dot-and-dash alphabet at the Speedwell Ironworks in 1838.

Here is how to make your light readable: a quick flick on and off is a dot, and a longer, steady beam is a dash. Leave a short pause of darkness between each letter, and a longer pause between entire words.

Start by practicing the famous distress signal, SOS, because its rhythm is incredibly easy to remember. Once your eyes catch the beat, you can start flashing full sentences through the dark.

Flash It in Morse

Morse code

A●▬B▬●●●C▬●▬●D▬●●E●F●●▬●G▬▬●H●●●●I●●J●▬▬▬K▬●▬L●▬●●M▬▬N▬●O▬▬▬P●▬▬●Q▬▬●▬R●▬●S●●●T▬U●●▬V●●●▬W●▬▬X▬●●▬Y▬●▬▬Z▬▬●●0▬▬▬▬▬1●▬▬▬▬2●●▬▬▬3●●●▬▬4●●●●▬5●●●●●6▬●●●●7▬▬●●●8▬▬▬●●9▬▬▬▬●

message

BLINK TO ME

secret

▬●●● ●▬●● ●● ▬● ▬●▬ / ▬ ▬▬▬ / ▬▬ ●

A short blink is a dot, a long blink is a dash. Now you can talk across a dark room.