What Did the POW Blink in Morse Code on Camera?
He blinked T-O-R-T-U-R-E. It was the first clear confirmation that American prisoners of war were being tortured.
What Denton blinked
TORTURE
- --- .-. - ..- .-. .
The interview
US Navy pilot Jeremiah Denton was shot down over North Vietnam in July 1965. In May 1966 his captors filmed him in a propaganda interview. While answering, he blinked, as if bothered by the lights, and spelled out the word in Morse code. His captors didn't notice.
US Naval Intelligence reviewed the footage and caught it. Denton later said his treatment got worse after it aired. He was released in 1973 and went on to serve as a US senator.
Try it yourself
Our blink tool reads your blinks through your webcam, with a TORTURE challenge. It's much harder than it looks, and nobody is watching you.
Sources
Send your own hidden message with our secret message maker, or try typing in Morse code with your eyes using Blink Morse.
