Question: When the girls got stuck at the top of the tower on the first night, why didn't they think to climb to the very top to screw and unscrew the light bulb back and forth in an SOS pattern at alternate speeds? That surely would have been seen as out of place, and the SOS is universally known as a distress signal that would have alerted motorists and people on the ground. No doubt that would have been strenuous to perform, but at least they would have been trying everything to get help.
raywest
8th Jan 2024
Fall (2022)
Answer: Probably for the same reason you (the person who posted the question) didn't think of it until after you'd seen them unscrew the bulb to recharge the battery. It just didn't occur to you/them.
Answer: To add to the other answer, while "SOS" as a distress signal is widely known, the Morse code equivalent (... - - -...) is not. So, unless they were educated in such signals, anyone seeing it probably wouldn't interpret it as a deliberate call for help...even law enforcement in this day and age couldn't be guaranteed to understand it correctly.
Even if some didn't understand it, there's a good chance they'd wonder why it was making such unusual flashes for the first time and take a look.
Answer: Most likely, that never occurred to them, or they had no idea about how to do that. Not to mention, it would be extremely dangerous, physically difficult, with no guarantee it would be successful.
raywest ★