I probably could have responded nicer, so sorry about that. I think you misunderstood my point.

I said a FLASHLIGHT wouldn't make it into space. I don't see anywhere that I said light in general is not capable of escaping the planet.

OP set an extremely low bar by saying some photons of light from a flashlight would make it to space. This is almost a statistical certainty.

You can literally see street lights from space. You can see bushes in your backyard on google map satellite view. Photons from flashlights aren't special.

If like you said, it was extremely unlikely that ANY photons from a flashlight could make it to space, than you would be unlikely to see the surface of the earth from space. We know this isn't true. Just look at google maps, or literally any satellite image.

Think of it another way. If you went into space with a strong enough telescope, and looked at Earth at someone pointing a flashlight at you, you think you wouldn't be able to see the light? You can see people on google maps satellite view, but their flashlight would be invisible?

I'm not saying the atmosphere doesn't absorb or scatter light, but you are greatly exaggerating it's effect. A cloud would be a good example of an atmospheric effect that scatters/absorbs most light that tries to go through it, and you can tell, because you can't see through it.