Fan theories

Fanon
(Fan created content. Distinct from hoaxes and parodies)

Since there are numerous theories on what's going on on that island in general, this article provides a recap of some of these theories. If you post here, please keep the format (Description, Pros, Cons) and try to stick to general theories (Theories about single persons, items, locations have their place in the according articles). If you don't, nobody will be able to read this article soon...

The survivors are in Purgatory or somehow "between places"

Pro

• The show starts with an airplane crash which normally nobody would survive. Maybe all the ‘survivors’ died and are now in some sort of purgatory, limbo or an other place between earth and ‘the hereafter’. The ones killed in the crash went directly to the afterlife.
• They all seem to have done something that leaves them with a feeling of guilt, or have unsolved problems.
• Once they confess to these things, they are "taken" or die. If they die in purgatory there souls can rest.
• Desmond said "See you in the next life" to Jack before the crash at the stadium.
• People who are known to be dead appear on the island (and in dreams).
• Children/Babies are taken because they have no sins yet.
• Eko tells Charlie that his dreams may mean something, and that Aaron should be baptized because he is in danger. Baptizing plays an important role in limbo and purgatory because of the cleansing (remission) of sins.
• While talking to Locke “Henry Gale” says: "God doesn't know how long we've been here. He can't see this island any better than the rest of the world can."
• “Henry Gale” talks about the people on the island as good or bad persons, being good or bad is very important while in purgatory.
• In the episode SOS, Bernard tries to make a big SOS sign. One of the given meanings of SOS is Save Our Souls.
• The author of the manuscript Bad Twin, Gary Troup, appears to be a deliberate anagram of Purgatory
• Survivors seem to miraculously ‘heal’ from earthly diseases. Locke can walk again, Rose healed form cancer and maybe Dr. Marvin Candle regained his arm on the island.
• The black smoke forms a tunnel in front of someone, Eko and Locke became very calm facing it, looking inside one (Eko) sees flashes of major events of his own life and Locke refers to what he saw as ‘beautiful’. All these properties (tunnel, calming, life review, experiencing beauty) are mentioned in near-death experiences, the biggest difference is that the smoke is black in contrast to a ‘tunnel of light’. The tunnel of black smoke could be a gateway out of purgatory into heaven (like the ‘tunnel of light’ is believed to lead from earth to heaven).
• When Eko asks Yemi in his dream for forgiveness he says: “Your work being done in ‘this place’ is important Eko, it is more important than anything!” and “what is done is done.”

Cons

• This theory was expressly debunked by Lindelof in a New York Times interview published on May 25, 2006. Noting the fact that the finale of Season 2 shows the outside world in the present (as opposed to a flashback) for the first time, Lindelof added: "People who believe that they're in purgatory or that they're subjects of an experiment are going to start reassessing those theories based on the fact that we are literally showing you the outside world."
• The purgatory theory has been debunked by one of the creators of the show (J.J. Abrams).
  • But wouldn’t they also debunk a theory if it were right, not to spoil the show? Maybe they are not exactly in purgatory but are somehow “between places”)
    • The theory was debunked in Entertainment Weekly with the sentence "These people have hearts, and when those hearts stop beating, they die."
• Not all survivors have issues we know about, also people die/disappear that are clearly not innocent.
• Not from all people who die it is clear what they came to terms with or why they could leave the purgatory (e.g. Nathan and the Marshall).
  • Its said that Leslie Arzt died after getting over being a social outcast but first of all this problem is not serious enough to get him in purgatory and second of all the process of getting over it is no more than realizing and admitting it to Hurley.
• It does not explain the numbers. (unless the numbers are simply a problem of Hurley which he is confronted with on the island)
• If the island is a place that should decide your fate in the afterlife based on your earthly sins then why Aaron gets born here? (In the case of original sin he should have died after being baptized.)
• If Richard Malkin is really a psychic and wants to protect Aaron then why did he put Claire on flight 815 (knowing that it would crash and all passengers would die)?

The whole island is an ongoing social experiment

Pro

• The Dharma Initiative was a social science project; the Swan Orientation Film mentions the realization of a huge social science project.
• The setting in The Swan is very similar to a "Skinner Box"
• "The Others" seem to be scientists (see episode Maternity Leave) who disguise as savages to make the survivors believe they are really stranded.
• "The Others" seem to have a great interest in observing the survivors (for example by using Ethan as a spy).
• A lot on the island works with artificially generated fear:
  • a mysterious sickness nobody has ever seen and an even more mysterious vaccine agains that illness.
  • a completely mysterious protocol that is referred to as "Push the Button" and threatens everyone to die if it is not followed.
  • some sort of artificial monster or security system that spreads fear to most of the people (except Locke and Eko).
  • "The Others" taking people away from the group, so every one fears to be next.
• The Swan as well as the Medical Station had modern equipment as well as equipment from the 70's
• The survivors seem to be connected in some sort prior to The Crash

Cons

• People get killed - so this is either a rather radical experiment or something does not fit in here.
• It does not explain The Numbers.
  • (not true; as imputting the numbers seems pointless except that they are "saving the world" the numbers could easily be part of a conformity experiment, especially group conformity, dominance, and even meme theory.)
• It does not explain the Whispers unless some advanced science or paranormal issues are involved.
• In Live Together, Die Alone when Locke refuses to press the button, the result seems to disprove the idea that the island is solely a social experiment. Also, the same episode seemed to confirm that when Desmond didn't press the button, that's what caused the plane to crash.

It is a Virtual Reality/(guided) Dreamstate or shared Hallucination

... like in "The Matrix" or "eXistenZ".

Pros

• In episode "Dave", the whole Island is claimed to be a figment of Hurleys imagination by Dave (who is also not real). This is backed up by the "coincidental" appearence of The numbers on the island and by the appearance of Libby as a mental patient of the Santa Rosa Mental Institute with a slightly different appearance in a flashback.
• The genre "Mindfuck" this show belongs to makes use of VRs on many occasions.
• The Whispers could be shades of reality seeping through the facade.
• Mysterious appearances and disappearances of persons and/or animals like the Polar Bear or Kate's Horse are easily explained.
• Also, dreams like Charlie's dream that seem to be almost prophetic could be explained.
• It would explain why an island of that size (and beauty) is not yet inhabited.
• Death would not be final, so "dead people" could possibly be heard as Whispers - also the experiment would still be cruel but not totally inhumane if people don't really die. Death could also mean someone "woke up from the dream" or is "healed from the halluciantion"
• The issue of "The Others" not leaving tracks on some occasions could be explained.

Cons

• Since the nature of a VR or dreamstate is essentially that everything one sees is controlled, it is hard to find hard evidence against this.
• Does not explain per se the strangeness of events prior to the crash, esp. "the numbers", except there eventa are at least partially part of the VR/DS.
• The theory of everything beeing someone's dream has been dismissed by one of the creators of Lost (Damon Lindelof). The idea of a shared hallucination was not adressed however.

They are in an artificial environment

... like in "The Truman Show".

Pros

• The whole island seems to be staged.
  • There are strange Stations with equipment inconsistencies (Computers from the 70ies and Washing Machines from the 90ies)
  • Animals that are out of place roam around.
  • No planes or ships are ever to be seen, the stars are not real, the tides behave strangely.
  • "The Others" wear theatrical disguises.
• The island is seemingly big but uninhabited.

Cons

• Doesn't explain the dreams/visions.
• Doesn't really explain the Security System.
• other than that, it is hard to find arguments (See VR/Dreamstate theory), unless someone messes up and gives away the deception.
• Inconsistencies could also be unintentional.
• This theory has been dismissed by one of the makers of Lost (Carlton Cuse).

The Survivors are the last remnants of humanity

Several theories allude to this, including the so-called "Ultimate Theory"

Details

• The 'survivors' were placed on or near the beach unconscious.
• They were implanted with false memories prior to the 'crash', this could explain the weird coincidences.
• They may be the last remnants of humanity, placed there to continue on following a cataclysmic event (such as a magnetic pole shift), as such they may have been born on the island, perhaps the children of the project.
• The whole expedition might be set on a remote planet and the magnet is to simulate gravity and the tropical weather is a result of the greenhouse effect.
• The music Sayid and Hurley picked up acutally could be radio signals sent from earth.
• The Alvar Hanso building seen in the Orientation movie is set in Narvik Norway which is also the home of The university of Narvik that has a close collaboration with Nasa and has studyprogrammes like Space & Aeronautical Engineering, Bachelor of Nursing and Electrical Engineering.
• Narvik is a mining town.
• The fountain seen in the Orientation movie is shaped as an octagon
• A famous UFO story is set in on islands outside Narvik
• These web pages are really spaced out but I'm sure some answers lies within it. It has Lost reference on everything from peanuts and Orion to Narvik and magnetics.
• A cool web cam from the roof of City Hall of Narvik (the building sighted in the Orientation movie) with the mountains in the background which are called "Den Sovende Dronning" (The sleeping queen") and the octagon fountain "Dama på Torvet" (Woman on the market square) in the middle. The fountain is a freedom monument for the liberation of the nazis in WWII and portray a woman who lifts a child on her right shoulder that is to symbolize ”Liv opp av kaos” (Life comes up from Chaos) and she is standing on a Rose bud that symbolize growth. Desmond says "You have to lift it up, brother!" and Rose is on the island. You also can see the freedom monument "Trinigon" to the right. A coincident? I don't think so.
• Some theories say the Dharma project evolved out of a inititive of world peace. Narvik is known as the city of peace in Norway and therefore they will have 3 monuments of peace. A trinity of peace. They now have "The woman on the square", "Trinigon" and soon a statue with a sleeping child called "Peace is a promise of future"
• Hurley mistakingly calls the crashed plane "Norwegian" instead of "Nigerian" in the episode Fire + Water.
• The Nobel Peace Prize is announced from Oslo, Norway
• The swedish inventor Alfred Bernard (!) Nobel invented dynamite in 1867.
• There a references to Rousseau on the Nobel Prize site
• Hans O. Alfvén in the "ultimate theory" did actually win the Nobel Prize in 1970 "for fundamental work and discoveries in magneto-hydrodynamics with fruitful applications in different parts of plasma physics". Here you can read his exciting lecture on "Plasma physics, space research and the origin of the solar system"
• Hans O. Alfvén's final words are essential to the whole Lost series "It was the wonders of the night sky, observed by Indians, Sumerians or Egyptians, that started science several thousand years ago."..."And if the night sky on which we observe them is at a high latitude, outside this lecture hall - perhaps over a small island in the archipelago of Stockholm - we may also see in the sky an aurora, which is a cosmic plasma, reminding us of the time when our world was born out of plasma. Because in the beginning was the plasma."
• The same year, 1970, Ulf von Euler got his own 1/3 of the Nobel prize in physiology or Medicine togehter with Sir Bernard(!) Katz and Julius Axelrod "for their discoveries concerning the humoral transmittors in the nerve terminals and the mechanism for their storage, release and inactivation"
• Ulf von Euler identified noradrenaline as the adrenergic neurotransmitter and how its distributed in nerves and organs during various physiological and pathological conditions. Noradrenaline is a stress hormone that effect the human brain where attention and impulsivity are controlled. Their discovery gave insight in explaining such illnesses as mental depression, Parkinson's disease, hypertension and drug abuse.
• Ulf von Euler's godfather Svante Arrhenius who were a distant relative to Carl Axel Arrhenius discovered a "black rock" on a geological excursion. In the black rock, which they sent to Åbo Finland for analyse, Yttrium (Y) was found by Johan Gadolin.
• Yttrium was found on "...a small island in the archipelago of Stockholm"
• Yttrium is used to protect against microwaves and enhance the quality of magnets(!) and making of lasers.
• Yttrium has tremendous healing energy (!)
• Recently it was discovered by Bednorz and Müller that when Yttrium was heated it transported energy without recistance; Yttrium is a perfect superconductor. Bednorz och Müller was rewarded with...guess what?...Yep...The Nobel prize in 1987 for that discovery.
• Svante Arrhenius on the other hand discovered the importance of the CO2-content of the atmosphere for the climate (the greenhouse effect), his discussion of the possibility that radiation pressure might enable the spreading of living spores through the universe (panspermy=theory explaining the existence of life on the Earth as a result of fertilization by germs coming from outer space.). He wrote books like "Worlds in the Making" and "Destiny of the Stars". In 1913 he appeared in "Smallpox and its combating".
• Hans O. Alfvéns shared his Nobelprize with Louis Néel who worked on the defence of ships of the French fleet against German magnetic mines and invented an effective new method of protection (neutralization). He is also connected to the French Atomic testing in the pacific ocean.

Pros

• Nobody has a recollection of the actual crash
• There are a lot of survivors for a crash that bad
• Flashbacks could be artificial memories
• No signs of the outside world (planes, radio signals, ships) have been seen
• "The Others" could be a group of scientists helping the survivors to found a new society

Cons

• This theory is almost certainly disproven by the Russian observation post detecting the electromagnetic overload and then calling Penny.
• The Numbers are not explained
• Whispers are not explained
• Too many people die for this being part of some greater plan (unless it has gone wrong)
• Sayid picked up a radio signal that was playing music with Hurley.

Scientific Experiment that accidentally opened a Mystical Pandora's Box

Details

The Dharma Initiative was a purely scientific experiment which, however, went seriously wrong due to unforeseen psychic effects on humans (the illness) in one of the stations (Station 3) caused by powerful mystical forces. The forces were released by an accident of some sort (the incident), involving a certain numeric code. These same forces are behind the unusually strong electromagnetic fluctuations to whose study the Station 3 was set up in the first place. Due to the flow of these forces into the island, spirits were released that should have been kept at bay, souls became possessed and strange occult phenomena came to pass.

Following the incident, possessed scientists continued with the scientific experimentation (including social and psychological experiments) but this time with a bizarre mystical twist. The main objective of these demonic experiments was to tempt the subjects to evil and thereby make them more vulnerable to demonic possession. Soon after the incident, however, the "unpossessed" scientists figured out -- by regularly typing the mystical code -- to keep these forces from pouring out into the world from another plane (Pandora's Box) and possessing their colleagues.

The damage however was already inflicted and a great deal of supernatural forces released. Over time only a handful of the unpossessed were left, forced to live in secret and to defend themselves. Boat and plane crashes were orchestrated by possessed scientists or ill-disposed people in cahoots with them in order to bring more “food” to these forces as well as to find someone capable and willing (e.g. Locke) to reopen the Pandora’s Box – this time for good. Certain benevolent souls (Jack and Kate), however, proved too good to be overcome by evil forces and eventually managed to foil the evil plan. Apart from Jack and Kate, the souls of every other survivor was "lost". Jack and Kate were the sole survivors.

In short, science met faith, and both Jack and Locke were proven right.

Pros

• There are some mystic elements - the Whispers, Charlie's and Claire's mystic dreams, animals and people appearing as "ghosts", people appearing as "possessed", Locke regaining the ability to walk, Jin apparently regaining his fertility.
• The numbers seem to have a meaning that is mystical. The Lottery and the unlucky events afterwards are hard to explain scientifically.
• The island seems to have some sort of "life" on its own.
• The scientific stations, the orientation movie and the Dharma Initiative all point towards some sort of scientific involvement.
• The unusual electromagnetic fluctuations on the island appear to be the only truly extraordinary observations about the island prior to any scientific mission to the island. Since many of the later events on the island can be explained within the context of scientific experiment, those apparently mystical elements that cannot be thus explained could indeed be somehow connected to these electromagnetic fluctuations.
• The writers of Lost appear to have consciously presented in the persons of Jack and Locke a seeming contradiction between "a scientific" and "a mystical" explanation to the events on the Island. Hence, the viewer seems to be knowingly misled to choose between two apparently incompatible options while the truth appears to combine both elements. Most of the other Lost theories fail to harmonize these elements, leaning exclusively on one or the other premise.

Cons

• It would be sort of the easiest explanation, basically the Dharma Initiative and the Orientation Video speak the truth and the numbers really are magic. But would that fit into the concept of Mindfuck? Maybe it does.
• In podcasts, it was said, that the numbers may not really have a mystical meaning and that there is an explanation for all that goes on (and it sounded like it is not a mystical one)
• Locke "opened the box" by opening the hatch, but on the other hand he follows the Station 3 protocol, seemingly preventing another incident. Hardly any other of the survivors can be said to be "good" or "evil". All have their moments...

The Tempest Theory

...the plot of the show is based loosely on The Tempest by William Shakespeare [[1]]

• Basic Idea: Prospero, the scholarly and mysterious Duke of Milan, loses his crown to his scheming brother, Antonio. Exiled from their country and cast out to die at sea, Prospero and his daughter Miranda are saved when their ship washes ashore on an enchanted island. With the help of two island inhabitants, the spirit Ariel and the savage Caliban, Prospero soon establishes a new kingdom. Prospero, having divined that his brother, Antonio, is on a ship passing close by the island, has raised a storm (the tempest of the title) which causes the ship to run aground. Prospero, by his spells, contrives to separate the survivors of the wreck into several groups and Alonso and Ferdinand are separated, and believe one another dead. Prospero manipulates the course of his enemies' path through the island, drawing them closer and closer to him. In the conclusion, all the main characters are brought together before Prospero.

Details

• The Dharma initiative is a worldwide underground organisation which owns the island and is in someway related to the Hanso Foundation
• The main characters were chosen to be on Flight 815 by Dharma Recruiters because they (or their parents) have in some way betrayed the Initiative or the Hanso Foundation
• The plane was brought down (gently) by Dharma on purpose
• Some people on the flight were not Dharma renegades and have been taken to safety.
• The rest are being punished on the island by a series of pyschological experiments (skinner box hatches, flashbacks, visions, mindless note taking at the Pearl) to get them to repent their actions.
• Some of the other people who crashed on the island were also being punished by Dharma (Black Rock crew, Danielle and her team, Desmond, the real Henry Gale and the drug smuggler's plane)
• Someone (fake Henry Gale?) known only as "Him" could be playing the part of Prospero and leader of Dharma. He is slowly leading the passengers through a series of events which will lead to them repenting their actions.

Pros

• The show bears a strong resemblence to The Tempest [[2]] in plot and has similar themes
• Could explain how some characters seem to be acting as Dharma Recruiters to get specific people onto flight 815
• Explains why the characters seem to be punished by what often seems to be very unlikely events. For example, Charlie gives up heroin and then a whole plane full of it is discoverd and Hurley gives up over-eating and then a shipment of food lands on the island.
• The islanders seem to have been given "clues" which are leading them somewhere (like in The Tempest). Is this where they will finally be judged by Dharma (Prospero)?
• Events (manipulated by Dharma) seem to be conspiring to separate the islanders and set them against each other as in the play
• The others only take "good" people. These are people who were on the plane by accident and haven't done anything to anger the Dharma Initiative. They don't have anything to be punished for are kept safe on the island. Zeke has stated that they are "safe".
• Could explain why the Others seem to be putting on an act for the survivors
• This theory could explain some of the connections between the main characters.
• There are a lot of references to "brother" cropping up in the show now. In The Tempest Prospero was betrayed by his brother.
• A Dharma leader ("Him") would adequately resemble Prospero: Prospero’s revenge is not intended to hurt any of the characters involved in it. He merely wants to show them what he had to go through when he was first stranded on the magical island. He also wants to make the characters feel guilty for their plot against him, so that when he does show himself, he will be more likely to be welcomed with open arms.
• This would indeed explain the supernatural elements. even the voices in the jungle: "... the isle is full of noises, Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not. Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments will hum about mine ears"

Cons

• Does not explain fully some of the more mystical features of the show (Whispers, Visions, Dreams, Hallucinations, Animals, The Monster...) unless these could be part of the psychological punishment.
• Leaves many things unexplained - what kind of an undergound organization, why does it own an island, why does it carry out experiments, why would people of such different and opposite backgrounds (or their parents) belong to such an organization, etc?
• It seems rather cruel to kill other innocent people on the plane.
• Fails to account for the "incident" unless it is part of the psychological punishment to scare whoever is in the Swan.
• Does not explain the need for the Dharma Initiative to have conducted all the other non-psychological experiments.
• Does not account for the numbers.
• Leaves many aspects of the Tempest unreferenced:
  • Prospero, while a powerful magician, was trapped upon the island himself by his own Brother. No-One in the Dharma initiative seem to be trapped.
  • Prospero's brother had set Prospero and his baby daughter adrift in order to replace him as the Duke of Milan. This brother was also aboard the vessel which Prospero's magical "Tempest" Brought aground. Prospero's Brother is integral to the themes of the play whom no-One on the plane adequately resembles .
  • If anybody is supposed to resemble Ferdinand and Miranda (Two young people who fall in love and are the only innocents on the island), then that could only be Jack and Kate. If Kate does indeed continue to fall in love with Sawyer then that debunks this theory since Ferdinand acted without Greed throughout the entire play (Not a Sawyer character trait)

The Christmas Theory

The 'Him' we have heard of is actually Santa Claus.

He judges who's been naughty and who's been nice and deals with them accordingly with his pet smoke reindeer.

If you're nice he gives you the gift of healing or mind powers and if you are bad it gives you some coal by taking you underground to go fill your stockings.

The Island is St Nick's hideaway and 'the others' are his elf army. The island is of course protected from view so that his good works are not spoiled. So much so that instead of being at the north pole it's in the Southern Pacific.

Santa will do anything to protect his secret and sends his evil Oompa Loompa's out, the cheeky leader wearing a fake beard as he pretends to be his master, to keep the survivors from his toy making station with is transmission tower for collecting the transmissions of children's Christmas letters.

The Hatch is one of the elf factories that has been abandoned as the minerals mined there have run out and they have moved onto another area of the island.

The Magnetism is from the link the island has with the north pole and is seeping from a leaky portal. He used magic portals to bring reindeer to the island, to use to pull his sleigh, but accidentally brought some polar bears through at the same time.

It's also therefore possible that test flights of the sleigh have brought down near by aircraft (both airplanes and balloons)

Pros

• Explains 'the others' preoccupation with "good" people.
• Explains why the island is magically hidden from view.
• Explains the crash, monster, polar bears, transmission tower, hatch, the others, magnetism.
• Explains the stealth supply drop

Cons

• It does not explain: the numbers, whispers, computer.
• Is basically too silly; even if the open nature of the show has yet to disprove the points made.

The Rapture Theory

The "losties" are those who are in the "tribulation period" of the rapture.

"As soon as the rapture occurs (according to this doctrine), many others will believe in the Jesus Christ of the Bible and will be saved, even though they missed the "rapture" and will now have to go through that tribulation period with everyone else on the Earth." -wikipedia

Pre Tribulation Period

God's 40 day Warning: (First 40 days on the Island aka Season 1)

""For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first." (I Thes. 4:16)"-wiki

Notice the numbers 4:16

"This is an event that will mimic an event that took place at the time of Jesus' resurrection and is recorded in the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 27, Verses 52& 53: "And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which were dead arose, and came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many."

"Known dead people will be brought back to life in a 'spiritual' body and appear to living people in Jerusalem. That is the Gospel account of what happened after Jesus' death, and it is what Paul is emphatically explaining to watch for when the end is near." - wiki

Pros

• Explains the hallucinations.
• Partially explains the number.
• Fits in with speculation about Aaron possibly being the Antichrist.

Addendum

Jack Shepard: Shepard is one who leads a herd. The herd being those caught up in the tribulation

Kate Austen: Austen is derivation on Augustine who wrote: City of God.

Michael: name denotes leader of God's angel army.

Walter: name denotes, ruler of army. Son of Michael on the show.

Aaraon: Claire's baby. Name denotes "Exalted One".

Zeke: Derivation of Ezekiel. The Book of Ezekiel describes his vivid symbolic visions which predict the restoration of the kingdom of Israel.

Lost: likely a reference to paradise lost, a poem about the fall of man.

John Locke and Rousseau: Names of Social Contract Theorist. Social Contract theories attempt to ground human nature without appealing to a higher power. Morality and redemption are major themes of the show. The show is possibly conveying a dialectic between Faith and Reason in the pursuit of understanding human nature.

The crew of flight 815 were travelling from Australia to Los Angeles. Australia is often known as the "land down under". Land down under can refer to earth (under heaven) or hell (under earth). Los Angeles means City of Angel. Thus the initial statement is a metaphor for the crew travelling from earth to the city of angel (heaven). Seeing that they never arrived at the city of angels, the island must be a metaphoric location between earth and heaven. Hence it is a place where the tribulation after the raptur occurs.

The Others:

It is my belief that "the Others" refer to two phenomenon. The first being a group of people on the island before the losties (aka others). The second being the phenomenon of "vanishing" during the tribulation and attributed to the others.

During the tribulation period, people often "vanish" and go to heaven if they are without sin and have open their hearts to Jesus. Therefore the dissappearances of some surivors is due to a rapturic vanishing, and not the others.

Let's consider the consider the psychological effect of your love ones vanishing during the rapture. Most of us would look for a reasonable explanation, such as, they were taken by someone. This conclusion would be considered more lucid, than an explanation that they were taken to heaven. Thus during the rapture, rampant paranoia would exists regarding heavenly actions.

They are in “Dreamtime”

Description

According to Australian aborigines Dreamtime* is the all-at-once time because they experience it as the past, present, and future co-existing.

Details

The Dharma initiative was to reach this condition through a series of experiments using the anomaly electromagnetic fields that has the island, but went wrong (the incident) when they opened the dimensional link between our reality and the Beralku*, the underworld, or the island of the dead.. The Hanso foundation tried to avoid the expansion of this dimensional door and energies using security parameters. .

The australian aboriginal people believe that each and every person has a part to them that exists eternally. This part continues to exist before the life begins and continues after the life of the individual ends. Both (before and after) it is believed that this spirit-child exists in the timeless place known as dreamtime and only is initiated by being born trhough a mother*. This confirms that the survivors are dead, and that’s why they remember their past, and learn from mistakes etc. and the others (that arrived before) are spiritual guides to this underworld and they take only who are prepared to take the journey back to life. Those who “die” are ready to take the journey back to life.

How many are coming back? 81 Why 81? http://www.oceanic-air.com/ check below the travelers: is weird that there are 42 infants in seat, 23 infants in lap, 16 young and only 4 adults. This 81 are selected to come back to life.

The monster or black cloud is one of the dimensional beings that live around the island. It could be related to Mamaragan* a lighting god of australian mithology that “ speaks with thunder as his voice. He rides a storm cloud and throws lighting bolts to humans and trees.”

• Entries from Wikipedia, the free enciclopedia

Pros

• This can explain “certain” flashbacks, mystical dreams and visions.
• The incident (dimensional linking avoiding) explains the numbers to be typed and the security.
• The monster is a dimensional creature
• The fragment of existing eternally after life confirms that they are dead
• Part of the storyline of "The Third Policeman," a book shown in the Hatch, involves the characters spending time in "eternity," where time doesn't matter. The narrator says that in this place, one could try to go somewhere else would always end up in the same place. In "Live Together, Die Alone," Desmond says that he sailed west for 2 1/2 weeks and should have hit land in less than a week, but eventually ended up right where he started.

Cons

• Relation with the Rosa Mental Institute is not clear.

They signed up for it

Details

The Lost Experience shows some initiatives that the Hanso foundation is involved in. Some of which may be of interest to various of the Castaways. They may have signed up to be there, perhaps inadvertantly. The island may be the labratory. The Others are the workers in the background who make it all happen.

Pros

• Libby and Hurly seemingly have their mental health issues fixed
• Locke can walk, Rose is free of Cancer, Jin is fertile
• Others may simply be sorting the people out and placing them on parts of the island that suit them best.

Cons

• Didn't seem to help Rousseau
• The Others seem to be up to something more sinister.

The survivors are clones

Pros

• Libby and Hurley seemingly have their mental health issues fixed
• Locke can walk, Rose is free of Cancer, Jin is fertile
• This can explain “certain” flashbacks, mystical dreams and visions.
• Nobody remembers the plane actually crashing - everyone just "woke up" on the island.
• Would explain 'See you in the next life'
• Would explain 'Good' people and 'Bad' people
• Would explain the bad twin
• Would explain 'dead' people

Cons

• Claire is still pregnant

The Y2K Theory

A scientific experiment was set in place in the late 70's after certain phenomena were discovered on the island. The Hanso Foundation built a series of hatches across the island to study these phenomena and keep them in check. However, when the year 2000 arrived, the computers on the island were effected having catastrophic (though not necessarily terminal) results. Remarkably, the island is still salvagable so long as proper maintainance is kept (i.e. pushing the button).

Pros

• Takes place after year 2000
• Computers are featured (presumably) in all of the hatches
• No techinicians available to resolve year 2000 issues

Cons

• Does not explain Danielle's presence on the island for 16 years.
• Does not explain the Others.