Lighthouse and naval vessel urban legend

A large gray ship with a flat surface and tower in the middle traveling through the sea
The USS Enterprise, a large warship of the U.S. Navy
A tall red round building with a glassed-in top and a walkway around it. The ocean is visible in the distance.
A Canadian lighthouse

The lighthouse and naval vessel urban legend describes an encounter between a large naval ship and what at first appears to be another vessel, with which the ship is on a collision course. The naval vessel, usually identified as of the United States Navy or the United Kingdom's Royal Navy and generally described as a battleship or aircraft carrier, requests that the other ship change course. The other party, generally identified as Canadian or often Irish and occasionally Spanish, responds that the naval vessel should change course, whereupon the captain of the naval vessel reiterates the demand, identifying himself and the ship he commands and sometimes making threats. This elicits the response "I'm a lighthouse. Your call." or something similar, a punchline which has become shorthand for the entire anecdote.

It has circulated on the Internet and elsewhere in particular since a 1995 version that was claimed to be a transcript of such a communication released by the office of the U.S. Chief of Naval Operations. There is no evidence that the event actually took place, and the account is implausible.[1] It is thus considered an urban legend, a variation on a joke that dates to at least the 1930s,[2] sometimes referred to as "the lighthouse vs. the carrier" or "the lighthouse vs. the battleship". The U.S. Navy once had a webpage debunking it,[3] although this did not stop the former U.S. Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell using it as a joke in a 2008 speech.[4] Other speakers have often used it simply as a parable teaching the dangers of inflexibility and self-importance, or the need for situational awareness. In 2004, a Swedish company dramatized it in an award-winning television advertisement.[5]

  1. ^ Chadderdon, Lisa (August 31, 1999). "This Time, Consultants Are In The Dark". Fast Company. Archived from the original on May 28, 2011. Retrieved September 17, 2011.
  2. ^ Mikkelson, Barbara (March 18, 2008). "The Obstinate Lighthouse". Snopes.com. Retrieved September 17, 2011.
  3. ^ "The Lighthouse Joke". United States Navy. September 2, 2009. Archived from the original on January 2, 2010. Retrieved January 17, 2021.
  4. ^ Silva, Mark (March 13, 2008). "DNI Mike McConnell: 'America hates spies'". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on September 24, 2011. Retrieved September 17, 2011.
  5. ^ Macleod, Duncan (December 3, 2006). "Silva Captain and the Lighthouse". The Inspiration Room. Archived from the original on February 6, 2021. Retrieved September 17, 2011.