The answer for the riddle below was revealed to be C-O-R-K, but only in a figurative sense for short-term satisfaction. It is entirely metaphorical. As for what the island really is (which will not be answered until the finale), I believe I have an answer that can be explained using science (even if it is applied in a futuristic sense):
So…What Is the Island? It’s described as a four-letter word. There’s your first clue! Shall we play Hangman? There are no A’s or E’s in the word…Wanna buy another vowel? Okay, but you only get one.
Another thing I can tell you: The island has to exist, according to my sources, and more importantly, someone has to protect it. It’s important to the world outside.
The metaphor used was: C-O-R-K
But as for what the island really is, that will not be revealed until episode 15 or later. The big reveal? A moon. Not the earth’s moon, but a moon. Using plausible science, I explain why below.
Before you read this theory, please view this video for essential reference:
according to Marvin Candle, a casimir effect occurs when two of the same person or animal are present simultaneously on the island. this arises several implications now that many individuals are existing concurrently in the two timelines present for Season 6, perhaps someday bound to converge and trigger this casimir effect. after all, everything that rises must converge.
as far as the casimir effect goes, use the following as reference but further research is encouraged so you can grasp this theory: “Exotic matter with negative energy density is required to stabilize a wormhole. Morris, Thorne and Yurtsever pointed out that the quantum mechanics of the Casimir effect can be used to produce a locally mass-negative region of space-time, and suggested that negative effect could be used to stabilize a wormhole to allow faster than light travel. This concept has been used extensively in science fiction.”
as you can see, the casimir effect opens up all sorts of opportunities once light-speed comes into play, the most obvious being the futuristic potential of space and time. especially considering that time travel and wormholes have already been exposed on this show, LOST is clearly not reluctant to apply futuristic ideology for explanations.
Before I answer some of the island’s biggest mysteries, I urge you to check out one more video. For basic background, it is Contact‘s interpretation of wormhole travel: “When the pod travels through a series of wormholes, she (Jodie Foster) is separated briefly and can observe the outside environment. This includes a radio array-like structure at Vega and signs of a highly advanced civilization on an unknown planet. She finds herself in a surreal landscape similar to a childhood picture of Pensacola, Florida, and approached by a blurry figure that resolves into that of her father.”
Most importantly, you can notice how “bumpy” the ride is:
the similarities are obvious, as is the technology and scientific terminology used. 03:10 reminds me of Locke staring into the smoke monster. Once a tropical island emerges around 04:00, her dead father comes in at 5:30 (almost looking like smoke!). I think we can safely say that Contact may have been a slight influence, and considering the planet she traveled to through a wormhole resembles an island-like moon, this isn’t that unbelievable. LOST obviously has different components at work, but as far as the wormhole travel to the moon goes it will be revealed very similarly.
to be concise, the island being a moon answers several major questions:
How come everyone ends up back at the island when they try to sail away from it?
Simple: the island is located within a sphere. Now, obviously considering Sawyer was back in a few days after attempting to leave, the sphere is not very big. What is a celestial body that is not big enough to be classified as a planet, but can still potentially sustain life? A moon. And imagine that… a four-letter word that uses just one vowel that is not ‘A’ or ‘E’! Nothing in the clue states that the vowel is USED once, only that we GET only one to use. perhaps one is all we need (just like the earth only was given one moon, but that is all it needs). if the answer to the actual riddle is C-O-R-K, it will be too metaphorical to disregard this proposal or any for that matter. it will be explained in metaphorical terms what the island is shortly and C-O-R-K seems like a good candidate. it is the perfect method of providing a hyped-about revelation without actually revealing anything.
Why do the food drops keep occurring, without a plane in sight?
DHARMA food drops kept occurring because the food automatically drops precisely on the “wormhole” (via fixed coordinates), sending all these items beyond light-speed to their respective locations on the island/moon (thus falling from the sky). Faraday’s experiments with time on the island further enforce this theory. theories that conclude 108 minutes on the island equaling 1 earth day also remain possible with this theory, but is not essential. What is known, though, is that time on the island is not the same as on earth. What other scientific explanation is there than for it not to exist on earth?
OK, so how does one get to the island on this apparent moon?
Think back to the time Juliet was taken to the island for the first time. She took the submarine with the others, but was knocked out with sleeping meds to avoid being conscious on a “very bumpy ride”. The others have obvious knowledge of the wormhole’s coordinates, and this explains how certain privileged people (Richard, Friendly, etc.) are able to travel to and from the island with ease. when Juliet was sleeping, the submarine entered the wormhole and was transported faster than light-speed to the island’s location, which plausibly could be anywhere in the universe (and on any moon in the universe). also remember: the “coordinates” that Ben gave Michael and Walt were essentially the directions to the wormhole that lifted them off this moon using light-speed, placing them in a convenient location on earth relative to the wormhole. they basically left the island where they entered it: the “wormhole” between earth and the island.
Why does the island “have to exist”?
it has to exist due to obvious effects on the gravitational pull of earth or planets that earth depends on, especially considering a wormhole to that specific part of the universe is present already on earth. the island/moon DOES exist in the newly created alt-timeline, the entry point is just elsewhere or it may not even been created yet. that’s their purpose in this alt-timeline… to come together and accomplish this task. the writers have said Aaron will be “extremely important” to the show’s plot, so he may certainly have something to do with opening it. The writers also claim the alt-reality is vital and important, so I foresee either both parties converging (i.e. father Jack coming face-to-face with non-father Jack on the island) or using this reality as a means to mend this now-disrupted entry point. Again, more exposition on the back-stories of Jacob/MiB are required for elaboration, as the motivation of Jacob for creating this alt-reality out of “the incident” remains unclear.
But wait, it showed in the S6 premiere that the island sunk. How can it still exist?
The island did not sink. This is evidenced by there being no known casualties in the alt-timeline, but even more so by the casimir effect and “The Incident”. the incident, which caused the wormhole to implode (in the alt-timeline), deposited all material on the island from that “moon” to the place of its respective wormhole on earth. it literally came down from the sky and fell into the ocean, just like the food drops, into the original place of the now non-existent wormhole. except now, it was dropping into water instead of where land originally was. the actual scientific implications of “The Incident” are too ambiguous right now to properly theorize, but I imagine it had some role in disrupting the wormhole.
Scientific fact: Regions of negative energy are required to stabilize and keep a worm hole open. “The Incident” somehow effected the island’s “abundance of negative energy” (Marvin Candle Quote) to the point of it closing or weakening the wormhole. the island still exists, but most items (the foot statue, cabins, etc.) were drawn to the wormhole just like items in the electromagnetic hatch. “The Incident” will eventually be explained using references of wormholes, the casimir effect, and the incredibly unique properties of negative energy and electromagnetism on the island.
How does time travel play into all of this?
I’ll let science do the talking for this question:
Worm holes are a feature of classical general relativity, but to create them you have to change the topology of space-time. That might be possible within a theory of quantum gravity. To keep a worm hole open, regions of negative energy would be needed. Misner and Thorne have suggested using the Casimir Effect on a grand scale to generate the negative energy.
Thorne has found that if worm holes can be created, then they can be used to construct closed timelike loops in space-time which would imply the possibility of time travel.
//math.ucr.edu/home/baez/physics/Relativity/SpeedOfLight/FTL.html#20
Also for elaboration on wormholes: Worm holes are shortcuts through space-time from one place in the universe to another which would permit you to go from one end to the other in a shorter time than it would take light passing by the usual route.
So what are the explanations for Desmond, Henry Gale, Yemi’s brother, Naomi, and others arriving on the island?
Henry Gale likely came by accident, similar to Desmond. These people entered the wormhole without knowledge… Desmond passing out was similar to Juliet, Oceanic passengers, etc. directly prior to arriving on the island. Naomi obviously came in purpose with Widmore’s crew, and knowing Widmore he has the resources to obtain the coordinates of the wormhole. He was looking for this around the same time as his daughter, who sent a crew to the Arctic to find the island’s entry point. We can probably go deeper and say Jacob intervened somehow in bringing certain people to the island, but this current theory is regarding what the island is. Tackling Jacob/MiB is a whole different thing.
OK, but I thought humans could not physically handle traveling beyond lightspeed…
Again, in applying futuristic research they are able to. Warp drive simulates the results of an object or person traveling orders of magnitude faster than the speed of light, but the effect is such that the object or person actually stands still, encased in a warp “bubble” that transports the space around the ship to another location. Sound familiar?
How did this wormhole get there?
This is up to the writers and it may correlate to further reveals of Jacob/MiB, but they could even resort to saying it is too old to even attempt to grasp. A pre-historic explanation for something like that would be fine as long as larger mysteries are answered. Natural phenomenons are one thing, but traveling smoke monsters and defiance of earthly physics are not. To say that even Jacob does not grasp the wormhole’s history would not be unrealistic. Chances are though, they have something up their sleeves.
Where does the island’s infertility work into this?
Oddly enough, the details of this have changed for the island over time. Juliet was brought to the island to help make birth possible. When she was shown a picture of a 26-year-old woman’s womb on the island, she thought it was that of a 70-year-old. Also remember she told Sun that Jin’s sperm count was 100x the norm on the island, whereas off the island he did not have enough sperm to conceive. I am not sure how this can concisely relate to the moon theory, since whether or not one can conceive appears to depend on the time of the island (they were able to conceive at some point, with many exceptions), but this study from NASA is very interesting:
As you can see, difficulties in conceived on a micro-gravity environment are abundant. Keep this in mind: The only three known methods of creating a micro-g environment are to travel far enough into deep space so as to reduce the effect of gravity by attenuation, by falling, and by orbiting a planet. when Juliet said sperm count increased 100x on the island, keep in mind she had never seen sperm behave in outer space or microgravity. Mis-identifying the vigorous speed of some sperm cells as the normal speed of MANY sperm cells is highly probable as a result, especially when the medical tools Juliet is using is from the 1970s.
Please do not assume that I am definitively saying the island exists in micro-gravity. that example was just used to show how differences in gravity, regardless of how slight they are, unarguably effects the ability to conceive. as to what the alterations in gravity actually are, the finale should elaborate on that. For proof of gravitational anomalies on the island, the lamp post station attempted to locate the island by identifying a certain gravitational anomaly.
Regarding micro-gravity: A micro-g environment (also µg, often referred to by the term microgravity) is one where the acceleration induced by gravity has little or no measurable effect – gravity itself does not change. consequently, the effects we see as viewers are minimal and only shown through experiments in time like the ones farraday did.
I am not even saying it is micro-gravity for sure… IT just seems like the most plausible. What I’m trying to emphasize is that even minor changes in gravity can dramatically effect the ability to conceive.
So, how can you explain how Locke could walk and Rose’s cancer was cured?
These are reactions caused by entry upon this specific type of wormhole. When Oceanic went through this wormhole, the people on the plane had to deal with the wormhole’s effects. an explanation for the lack of fertility could ALSO be that components of one’s body are altered upon entering the wormhole. cancer can be cured, broken limbs can be mended, your sperm count increases 100x, and a woman’s womb increases in age by 40+ years (further elaborating upon the differences in time). check out this quote to reinforce this: “This symbol is a womb, it’s a gateway, a doorway, it’s the symbol of new life. It’s a symbol of something that can get you from one dimension to another and this just opens up a whole can of worms(holes) of thinking and possibilities.”
the same being said, the differences in gravity (along with the island’s unique electromagnetic and negative energy properties) may also play a role in the occurrence of these “miracles”.
Any other reasons to believe this crazy theory?
Remember when Locke and Ben turned the pinwheel? They dropped about 20 feet underground to do so, encountering a startling change in climate. I would like anyone to name me a place on earth that changes the climate from TROPICAL to TUNDRA after one descends 20 feet. Also, the moon theory answers why planes NEVER fly over the island, why there are never seasonal changes, and what exactly that white light is when one turns the wheel. When Ben ends up in Tunisia, he is laying flat on the ground. Think back to the foot statue now on the bottom of the sea. When it was deposited as a result of “The Incident”, it underwent a procedure very similar to Ben in that it was meant to end up safe on the ground somewhere, but instead ended up on the bottom of the sea where that land (the island) was supposed to be before being moved. And what moved it? The pinwheel moves the wormhole, and “The Incident” obstructs it.
One of the biggest indicators of this theory’s legitimacy is Faraday’s experiments. Recall when he looked up at the island’s sky and remarked on scattering light, saying light did not scatter properly on the island. This, in addition to obvious differences in time between the island and the earth, suggest that the island is located differently than earth is in relevance to the sun and moon. Also take a look at the official DHARMA logo below:
Come on man, how is an island on a moon considered science?
It is science when you look at it from a futuristic perspective (which is often done in shows like these to build the mystery). when you consider the true scientific possibility of a wormhole existing and leading people to anywhere in the universe, anything is possible. to say that a moon exists somewhere in the universe that can house human life is not an actual fact, but it cannot be scientifically disproven (scientists claim 30+ known moons are potentially habitable). this is my point here… I have always watched this show assuming that all aspects could NOT be scientifically disproven. Some aspects like the smoke monster, the lighthouse, non-aging seem absurd, but when these futuristic possibilities arise the audience should regard new scientific breakthroughs and studies.
What can this theory NOT explain?
To tell you the truth, it can answer a lot. But it still does not answer one major question: Why are these people on the island? What the island is has minimal bearing on Jacob and MiB, since they realistically could have been children in the year 23AD who arrived on the island via the same wormhole that everyone else did nearly 2000 years later. I cannot yet theorize on Jacob or MiB because the information involving them is so thin, but after Episode 15 I imagine that things will be a lot clearer.
If Episode 9 does reveal the riddle’s answer to be a “cork”, do not disregard this theory or others entirely. Knowing Lost, it will be a metaphorical explanation that will just tease viewers until it is actually explained. The most definitive explanation, though, must involve elaboration on the Jacob/MiB backstory, so it is easy to see why they will wait until the finale for such a revelation. Considering that the origins of the smoke monster and whispers are also to be revealed around finale time, their cohesive explanations are contingent on the other-worldly (literally) components and unique energy properties that have yet to be fully exposed.
really cool theory..i imagine people would be shocked if the island zooms out to reveal a moon. haha people would be shocked for days. even if this doesnt come tru, thanks for the read… very interesting
Very cool man. very cool.
I suspect it to be a very very dense moon, being so small but still maintain
normal gravity pull.
I also always think how easy it seems to get to the island…
The U.S does it in the 50’s, we see the freighter crew does it..
Your theory also explains how the island suddenly disappeared
when the losties were on that chopper with Lapidus, with leaking fuel.
the Donkey wheel moved, and somehow everything outside the island
area was transported back to earth. then “suddenly” they came across
penny’s boat.
Wow — a very intelligent and thought-provoking read. Thanks for sharing.
Brilliant theory.
I just read a book by Arthur C Clarke which dealt with the technology behind creating the first wormholes here on earth. Good read from a scientific point of view.
Consider this: Wormhole technology Vs. Genetical engineering technology.
My point is that it would be much easier to “build” a body with genetic information than it would be to send a body through a wormhole.
So, what if our Losties are being sent through the wormhole only as information and being reconstructed on the other side? This would explain why Locke can walk and Rose’s sudden remission, memory gaps, etc…
Another note, what if MIB and Jacob are the gatekeepers, so to speak, and they represent first contact representatives for us earthlings. MIB thinks humans are too corrupted and not fit for outer worldly relations, Jacob has hope for humans….
Very interesting theory. How can this explain why Jack, Hurley, Kate, & Sayid were transported to 1977 while the remainder of the Ajira passengers remained in 2007 when they were all on one plane and entered the wormhole at the same time?
good question. this is how I think the writers will explain that…
keep in mind: Thorne has found that if worm holes can be created, then they can be used to construct closed timelike loops in space-time which would imply the possibility of time travel.
I’m guessing that Jack, Hurley, Kate, and Sayid are special for some reason, as suggested by their “candidate” status. Kate does not appear to be a candidate, but I’m guessing that previous exposure to this wormhole constructed some sort of time-like loop that accounted for this time travel. this aspect seems more up to the writers than science, since I’m sure that it relates to their importances in the scheme of Jacob and MiB, both of which are two ambiguous to utilize directly in this theory. they play a role in this theory for sure, but I’m not sure of it yet until their back-stories are exposed.
Good read Mike.
The island can be summed up in 4 letters with one vowel huh?
how bout…LOST
perhaps Its a writers ploy to get everyone making these theoires why they all giggle
tonight’s reveal should be C-O-R-K, but the sheer ambiguity of the metaphor makes everything fair game even after tonight.
i’m guessing that tonight will just tell us why richard doesn’t age, why the black rock is in the middle of the jungle, and some more jacob/mib back story. as for what the island is, that won’t be fully revealed til the finale.
there were many components in Episode 9 (Ab Aeterno) that, if introduced earlier, would have made the attempts at character development a lot more appealing. all these characters have been driven by manipulation, and it has been sort of a chain reaction of manipulation. jacob manipulates richard, so richard unknowingly manipulates ben, ben unknowingly manipulates the oceanic passengers, etc etc. like jacob, MiB has his own chain of manipulation. richard, ben, widmore etc. all manipulated people based on knowledge and/or promises that were passed down to them, regardless of how non-factual these were. jacob worked through motivation in telling extremely vulnerable people they were essential, and MiB worked through manipulation by lying about resurrecting loved ones. they both pounce on the especially vulnerability to their advantage. this was highly indicative when MiB created the fabrication of Richard’s wife being killed; he was only doing this so Richard would be willing to kill Jacob when MiB asked.
as a result, the writers have no reason to expect viewers to assume that the main characters are basing their decisions on integrity to the point where their level of morality can be determined. it is one thing to choose an option based on facts presented, but when the “facts” are primarily fabrications the whole good/evil test becomes flawed since they are being externally influenced. the god/devil comparisons are fun, but i hope they do not escape this episode since – like “cork” – they are purely metaphorical. too many metaphors, not enough answers.
certain things, like the smoke monster and true identity of the island, obviously cannot be explained until the finale because the explanations hinge on events that have yet to occur.
Very interesting read. But there are a few things that seem to show flaws in this theory.
How can you explain how the island is accessible by plane at a likely high altitude, by a chopper just over the ocean, as well as by submarine? Are you suggesting this wormhole extends from the sea floor to several miles in the sky? Did both Oceanic and Ajira flights begin their crash then fall through the wormhole.
My biggest concern arises when the Oceanic Six are leaving on the chopper. After they get off the freighter before the C4 detonates, they attempt to return to the island. They can see the island as they approach it, then Ben “moves” the island. If they could see the island, were they not on the “moon” at the time the island moves? Yet they end up drifting in a raft, on earth, and wind up on Penny’s ship.
Penny had the resources necessary to find the coordinates of the wormhole. This was the research the explorers she employed in the Arctic were conducting. They ended up conveniently near Penny because she was looking for the island and was searching around that area, since she knew the island’s coordinates were somewhere within that range.
As for the planes, I feel that many were brought down to a suitable altitude for the wormhole. The energy bringing them down could be a variety of things; the writers could either go with electromagnetism (which was actually how Oceanic crashed and was pulled in) or the large amount of negative energy in the island’s core. Once at a proper altitude, anything can pass through the wormhole regardless of method of transportation. The wormhole is stabilized (as demonstrated by the island’s time-traveling capabilities… Jacob seems to know how the wormhole works for this reason), so this travel is possible. Submarines are just one of many ways of travel… planes are a very bumpy and dangerous ride, which is why the experts (Hanso, Widmore, Ben) opt for travel on a ship or sub as not to harm themselves.
The helicopter was certainly at a low enough altitude to enter the wormhole, and this should explain why it was not the island that moved, but them. Ben basically entered a different wormhole, the same one used by the polar bears in DHARMA experiments, that brought him to Tunisia (remember those polar bear bones Charlotte dug up there). The island did not move; it was the helicopter going through the wormhole. Sudden changes in weather (like what the Black Rock and Desmond experienced) upon entering the wormhole is indicative of this, as it seems to emphasize being transported to another location far away in lightspeed. I think this is precisely what they’re doing and how the helicopter exited the island. It was heading in the right direction because it was going away from the freighter, which had knowledge of the wormhole’s coordinates and just recently docked after entering it.
Just curious: Has the moon(the earth’s moon) been shown on the island? If it hasn’t, then it kind of hints that you could be right, yet if it has been seen it kind of disproves your theory. I can’t recall ever seeing the moon so that strikes me as interesting…
Also the whole wormhole to another world is kind of a reference to Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. I’m not sure if it’s in the movie but in the book, Aslan explains that came to Narnia from another world, by falling through a certain point, and that these points exist all over the earth. Sounds a bit similar.
Ok, I think I need to better explain my concerns regarding the wormhole and the dynamics of the island, the freighter, and the chopper.
The freighter = on earth, has not gone through the wormhole.
The Island = on the “other side” of the wormhole.
When passing through the wormhole, the people or objects travel faster than the speed of light to reach the “other side” or this “moon.”
How is it that the people on the chopper, being on the earth side of the wormhole after leaving the freighter, can see the island that requires faster than light speed travel to reach. Are you saying people are able to see through this wormhole to the other side using faster than light speed vision?
Also, how is it that the people on the beach of the island can see the smoke from where the freighter was blown up if its on the other side of the wormhole?
“The island did not move; it was the helicopter going through the wormhole.” But if the chopper was on the earth side of the wormhole already, and then entered the wormhole, would it not be brought back to the island?
Also, if the chopper moved and not the island as you say, why was the smoke stack from the burning freighter no longer visible from the island beach? Shouldn’t the freighter still be there if only the chopper moved?
good questions. they all need to be elaborated upon. one option to consider before reading the below is that ben pushing the pinwheel changed the location of the wormhole(s), not the island.
but if we do not regard that… I think the main difference here is that I believe the freighter WAS already inside the wormhole. they were at the point of entry basically, throwing the anchor down once they had entered the wormhole. the coordinates of this wormhole are apparently usable for both entry and exit, which is also explained by how the submarine likely used the same route each time for going to and from the island. this explains why they were able to see smoke from the beach, and why they were able to see the island from the chopper before going through the wormhole.
the people on the chopper saw the island because they were still in the wormhole. the island disappearing occurred the split second that they DID enter the wormhole.
Heres my reasoning for thinking that the freighter had never crossed the wormhole.
1) The chopper goes through heavy turbulence/storms when going to or from the island.
2) People feeling “side effects” from traveling to and from the freighter. Desmond and Sayid return to the freighter with Lapidus in “The Constant” and the turbulence causes Desomond’s mind to be stuck in the time warp loop. Desmond probably experiences this (and not Lapidus or Sayid) because of his exposure to electromagnetism when igniting the fail safe in the hatch. They were instructed by Faraday to keep precisely to an exact bearing. Probably to ensure traveling through the middle of the wormhole to minimize side effects(kind of like the eye of the storm). Minkowski on the other hand tries to reach the island with another crew member from the freighter. They tried to take a raft to the island but had to turn back because the second guy began to “act crazy,” They experience the “side effects” because they tried to use a raft and are not able keep on the correct bearing.
There is obviously some type of time anomaly separating the island from the main world. The part I have the hardest time believing is the moon part of the theory. I think the island is on earth but separated from the main world by a difference in space-time continuum. (The island is actually in the South Pacific, but separate from the main world by space time.) Its accessible through the time warp or wormhole. As you said in your previous comment, I also think Ben moved the wormhole by turning the wheel instead of actually moving the island. I don’t think the chopper had passed back through the wormhole when the island disappeared.
The thing about the freighter being on the island side of the wormhole(which would mean the chopper is too as it leaves the freighter to head back to the island), is why would they not still be near the island after the wheel is turned?
Still with this theory, my questions about the dynamics of the freighter, chopper, and island are still unanswered(basically i have a problem with the sight-lines through the wormhole).
Some other questions about this theory not even addressed here yet. How is it that Jin, who was left behind on the freighter, was able to swim back to the island after it disappeared/moved/whatever. Also, wasn’t Faraday in the Zodiac at the time yet he stayed with the island? Looking at where the characters are in relation to the island, Jin(freighter) would be the farthest, then the Chopper, and then the Zodiac, yet some stayed with the island and some did not.
“The people on the chopper saw the island because they were still in the wormhole. the island disappearing occurred the split second that they DID enter the wormhole.” I don’t see how this can work logistically. If the freighter is inside the wormhole, then the chopper leaves to freighter to return to the island, how does it pass through the wormhole?
jin never swam back to the island voluntarily. he was knocked unconscious and awoke hours later after he had already entered the wormhole. it clearly showed him waking up after being knocked out… it is not hard for the writers to say that he floated through the wormhole while unconscious. the prevalence of storms – similar to the ones desmond, richard, and rousseau experienced upon finding the island – coincides strongly with this view.
The following should answer another one of your questions: “Later, after Ben turned the frozen wheel, Sawyer and Juliet noticed that the smoking freighter was gone. They soon learned that they had moved through time”
This is an official summary of the episode, and it shows why they were not able to see the smoking freighter from shore (Sawyer and Juliet were on shore). The people on the island moved through time, so consequently the freighter was not there at the time.
The heavy turbulence and storms would only coincide with the wormhole component of this theory, especially considering Desmond, Jin, Richard, and Rousseau all came across the island during a storm. the storm must have SOMETHING to do with the wormhole, especially since the wormhole is stabilized through the island’s abundance of exotic negative matter. this negative matter was the liquid in jacob’s C-O-R-K metaphor.
The “side effects” may be explained in the lack of compatibility between electromagnetism and wormholes. Clearly the wormhole is designed for human travel, so an alteration of conventional biology would throw Desmond off. I just see the “side effects” as even more reinforcement that there is a wormhole there, and they acquire these “side effects” by entering the wormhole.
Theoretically, if you believe in the wormhole theory then the moon one is not much of a stretch with the evidence I provided. a wormhole can take one literally anywhere in the universe, and I gave plenty of reasons for it not existing in our world above.
Your theory about it existing in a different time-continuum is good, but there is no explanation there for anything… specifically why the island is so damn special (with its special properties of negative energy and electromagnetism), why planes never fly over, and why the food drops occur. i answer all of those above… specifically the food drop answer and faraday’s mention of how light scatters differently on the island should be BIG clues. the island being on a moon answers these. sight-line visibility with this wormhole is definitely one of this theory’s softer points due to the show’s lack of elaboration in this regard, but i hear as early as episode 11 we may learn more about wormholes. another 4 letter clue is already here for that.
Mike:
I loved this read, if for no other reason than it brought me back to the mindset of super-(or pseudo)science speculation in earlier season. This season, with its temples and lighthouses and ghosts and devil/hell imagery has had my mind grounded wholly in the religious/supernatural/magical realm. I like the idea that this mystic mumbo-jumbo could all be misdirection, and that there is actually a science (or science-fiction) explanation for the strange physical properties of the island, the smoke monster, etc.
The wormhole(s) theory has a lot of potential, and could explain many unanswered mysteries. For example, both Ben and a polar bear being whisked away to Tunisia. The necessity of maintaining a certain bearing to reach the island. Some of the odd properties of the island, such as the light scattering and other properties noted by Faraday and referenced in your original post.
I definitely like the “moon” hypothesis, but it seems virtually impossible (not in terms of the science, which I’m willing to accept for purposes of theoretical discussion, but simply with the practical implications of the science as applied to our island and the Losties). Being much more of a humanities type than a science guy, I could be missing some obvious explanations — but please explain these things:
(1) If the island is on a remote moon, where is its PLANET? In order for the castaways not to see the planet this hypothetical moon is orbiting, one would have to assume the moon is tidally locked like Earth’s moon, with one side always facing away from the planetary body, and the LOSTies are on the “dark side” of said moon. Even so, the tidal locking would give rise to other practical implications, such as presenting dramatically different tides (there should be none, right, or if there are tides, they would be in relation to the moon’s orbit around its star and should be minimal, no?). This should be particularly noticeable on an ISLAND.
(2) I think in your original post, or in someone’s comments, the question is asked, “have we seen the moon on LOST?” The idea being, if we’ve seen Earth’s moon, that blows the theory out of the water. But my question is the reverse: if we HAVEN’T seen the moon, why hasn’t someone mentioned that fact? It would seem to be relevant and pretty hard to miss. Likewise, wouldn’t the constellations appear differently, if at all? Wouldn’t someone have noticed that they were sleeping under strange stars?
(3) I had many more, but I’m out of time. I’ll check back here later to see your thoughts on what I have so far.
Thanks for an interesting read!
Great read and I just had an epiphany moment after reading your article that I am going to attempt to prove using your article and some math/factual research I will do after this post. I love your theory but I think you proved the exact opposite of your own theory with the explanation of it. The changes in gravity and time are not representative of a surface circumference different than that of earth. I think it is representative of the earth’s surface circumference from deep inside the earth. I think this island is inside the hollow earth, that scientists have been talking about the reason of tellueronic currents. The idea that there are electromagnetic currents that exist below the surface of the earth has existed as a way to explain the building of the temples in Egypt and Maya to harness the currents. Having knowledge that the “entrance” is near the arctic and the “exit” is in Africa we can probably make a guess as to where the island is using longitude and latitude mathematics based on going deeper into the earth via tunnels through magma and water. The island could be the center of the world, having all the same attributes of earth, even sustaining its own atmosphere, but spinning at a greater speed (explaining the time travel ideas). Hence why submarines are a good means of transportation to the island. I’m on to something I am just not quite sure what. Maybe some help, or input. I hope I can come up with a better way to communicate my thoughts later.
Till than
some great ideas there Paul. really fascinating and intelligent perspective. I look forward to hearing more.
but the main question with that is, they can clearly see the stars and the sky, as well as experience rain and sunshine. therefore, i doubt they are “under” anything. I could be wrong though.
one thing we can all seem to agree on is that the island is not just randomly sitting in the middle of the ocean, on normal earth with no special properties.
Yeah i ran into some obvious problems after sitting down and thinking it out. I worked myself into a quick frenzy earlier. I recently read Umberto Eco’s Foucault’s Pendulum. In the book he tells of a Masonic type cult that use the design of Foucault’s Pendulum which is an experiment that the scientist used to make examples of further mysteries of the earth’s rotation. The design reminds me of exactly what Eloise Hawking used to find the island. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foucault_pendulum . I have been an avid fan of Lost since the beginning but have never explored the forums until today. Me and my friends often talk about it but I never got around to exploring the world within the world. The idea of the island being on a spherical plane within its own atmosphere does relate to old (very old), hollow earth theories also explored in Eco’s book.
“Edmond Halley in 1692[1] put forth the idea of Earth consisting of a hollow shell about 800 km (500 miles) thick, two inner concentric shells and an innermost core, about the diameters of the planets Venus, Mars, and Mercury. Atmospheres separate these shells, and each shell has its own magnetic poles. The spheres rotate at different speeds. Halley proposed this scheme in order to explain anomalous compass readings. He envisaged the atmosphere inside as luminous (and possibly inhabited) and speculated that escaping gas caused the Aurora Borealis.[2]”
All of these ideas crafted my earlier theory on what the island might be. The cork idea could still even relate to either. The cork could be taken literally as a stopper between the wormhole or spherical planes or whatever. I guess we have to wait to see, and make our own hypothesis as a fanbase when the story allows us to. That’s what is so great about Lost.
Amazing theory and an amazing read. Honestly, I think you might be right and i can’t say that I’d be wholly disappointed if this was the resolution. I just have a couple of responses to your article and to a post above.
Firstly: ‘One of the biggest indicators of this theory’s legitimacy is Faraday’s experiments. Recall when he looked up at the island’s sky and remarked on scattering light, saying light did not scatter properly on the island. This, in addition to obvious differences in time between the island and the earth, suggest that the island is located differently than earth is in relevance to the sun and moon’
So we learned there are differences between the island and the earth, but how did we learn this? Through the launch of the payload. You state that the freighter was anchored just on the island side of the wormhole but the payload was launched by Regina who was on the freighter and therefore already through the wormhole. Where does this leave us on the difference in time between the earth and the island when this experiment took place within the same island ‘timezone’?
Secondly: A couple of posters above mentioned the Arctic or the Pacific as entry points to the island. Richard was in Spain, where he was sold and left for the New World aboard the Black Rock. The route from Europe to the New World is across the Atlantic ocean. The Panama Canal was not yet constructed at the time of the voyage so why would a ship sail to the tip of South America to get the Pacific when they could reach it much easier and settle on the east coast or travel further west on land? And, indeed, why would they be in the Pacific, having bypassed their destination? How old is the frozen wheel and is it possible that the wormhole has been moved before, in the way you theorise Ben moved the entry point as opposed to the island itself? Desmond’s race started from L.A. and so didn’t he crash while sailing the Pacific?
Shift through time = freighter smoke disappearing! I should have known this. With all the theories and whatnot to sift through it is easy to get LOST when thinking about this show.
Thanks for the reminder about Jin as well. Still would be true that as far as distance from the island, at the time the wheel was spun, would be Jin>Chopper>Zodiac. However, only the people on the chopper were not taken with the island to its new destination in space and/or time.
And I don’t really have a theory of my own, just parts of things I have picked up by reading thoughts from people such as yourself. I don’t want to post links to other theories out of respect for you. But I lean towards some form of the mirror matter theories out there, which can explain the electromagnetic properties of the island as well as the light scattering differently.
And for the food drops, we both agree the island is separated by space/time so the food drop theory would apply no matter the end destination of the wormhole(same with no planes flying over). For me, the better question here is why was there a food drop to the island long after the purge of the Dharma Initiative?
As interesting as all of this discussion is about where the island is, to me it is second to questions about why the island is. Lost obviously has some types of religious/faith/mythology parallels and I don’t think a sole pseudo-science explanation of the islands whereabouts will be satisfying. We were given a taste with the cork/bottle/wine metaphor, but many questions should be answered when we get the Jacob/MIB backstory.
Ultimately, I don’t think there will be any one concrete theory that ties all of Lost together, and that is one of the great things about this show. I believe it will be several parallels, myths, theories woven together. One thing I am certain of is we will all still be brainstorming and theorizing long after the finale. Even if some of the big questions are answered there will be so much to discuss.
Thinking back, i have a real problem grasping how jin could make it back to the island after drifting from the freighter, yet the chopper(which left the freighter to go towards the island) ended up back on earth proper.
Also, what is the possibility of these inconsistencies with the positions of the island/chopper/freighter/wormhole could simply be chalked up to production/continuity errors?
Ok. I read through the comments again. The island moving through time still doesn’t explain some things.
Do you agree that anyone/thing on the island side of the wormhole should have the same experience as anyone/thing on the island? My comments on the position of objects/people relative to the island/wormhole have all been based on this understanding.
If so, and the freighter is on the island side, it should have traveled in time with the island. So too should have the chopper as it would obviously be between the freighter and the island. This positioning also does not explain why there was turbulence to and from the island, nor does it allow Faraday’s experiment to work as previously mentioned.
And if the freighter is on the earth side, the smoke should have never been seen in the first place. Also, in this situation, its quite implausible to think that Jin could somehow drift through the wormhole but the chopper was unable to reach it.
Lost of inconsistencies either way. Maybe it is continuity errors in production. I know these writers know what they are doing, but they are capable of making mistakes as well. Especially considering it deals with theoretical pseudoscience. You would like to think thats not the case but its always a possibility.
Oh… my… god!!!!
I think you solved LOST!!!
Even if you didn’t, it is still the most interesting theory I have ever read.
Very good theory, I am impressed. Thank you for sharing.
This is one of the best theories I’ve read in several years of Lost! Maybe even the best theory!
Congratulations on this! Really awesome..
man you are a smart one. thanks for the read.
Anyone have any thoughts on these (previously posted, never addressed) questions? Bueller? Anyone?
(1) If the island is on a remote moon, where is its PLANET? In order for the castaways not to see the planet this hypothetical moon is orbiting, one would have to assume the moon is tidally locked like Earth’s moon, with one side always facing away from the planetary body, and the LOSTies are on the “dark side” of said moon. Even so, the tidal locking would give rise to other practical implications, such as presenting dramatically different tides (there should be none, right, or if there are tides, they would be in relation to the moon’s orbit around its star and should be minimal, no?). This should be particularly noticeable on an ISLAND.
(2) I think in your original post, or in someone’s comments, the question is asked, “have we seen the moon on LOST?” The idea being, if we’ve seen Earth’s moon, that blows the theory out of the water. But my question is the reverse: if we HAVEN’T seen the moon, why hasn’t someone mentioned that fact? It would seem to be relevant and pretty hard to miss. Likewise, wouldn’t the constellations appear differently, if at all? Wouldn’t someone have noticed that they were sleeping under strange stars?
MoRich. I think they are two great questions. May check back a couple more times for possible answers, but it appears Mike is done responding.