or, Adventures in Wonderland Via Theoretical Physics — Not in Portland... In StarboardlandSome physicists have argued that a complete universe needs to have two sides — two sides that exist in parallel but are normally invisible (or dark or black) to each other — two sides where the matter operates in the same way, but where stars and planets formed in different patterns. The two sides are different according to "mirror reflection symmetry," where, basically, left and right are reversed on the very small scale of particle physics. Our side has "left-handed" particle interactions, and the other side has "right-handed" particle interactions. In the words of Locke in Episode 1: "... Two sides... One is light... One is dark." Note which hand each stone is in, and the messianic cross formed by the scars and his right eye.
This theory proposes that the island is on a tiny moon on the "other side" — a world "on the other side of Earth," as the producers suggested recently. Because the moon was trapped by Earth's gravitational field when Earth was forming, it continues to orbit the gravitational center of Earth (which is invisible and can be passed through without much friction). Days are shorter because it rotates faster than Earth, it's invisible because it literally is, the smoke monster shows what happens when our world and the island world interact with each other, the island is literally all there is except for the surrounding ocean, and Benjamin Linus is supposed to be on the right-handed moon because Benjamin means "son of the right hand" and Linus was a son of Apollo.
So that's it, really. The super-short version is: It's a show about dark matter, that trendy science stuff you saw on the Discovery Channel. Of course, that's not quite right. Below is the geeked-out, super-expanded, way-too-much-information version. (Hardcore fans like me need specific answers to everything.) It's not what would be shared directly with the audience. On the actual show, I think we just need two elements to be explained: (1) the idea of mirror matter or dark matter and (2) a visual depicting the moon in motion. I expect the majority of this could be conveyed with a single shot that transitions from the Earth to the moon (as the Earth dissolves) to the rotating LOST logo superimposed on the moon. Thanks to the apparently fake wreckage, we already have the ROVs covered. The giant foot? Just paying homage. See below. [Auf Deutsch? Hier — Vielen Dank, simutiger!]
Pending Update: It takes 42.23 minutes to fall from one side of the Earth to the other (yes, willfully ignoring the mass of the moon). One period is 5068 seconds (/2/60 = 42.23). So I think I ought to use that and update the orbit... (Someone whose work I stupidly duplicated is here.)
Carlton Cuse: ... from Marvelo815: "So I was thinking… Does the island move? How does Eko's short range plane … go from Africa to somewhere near Australia? Maybe the island is forever moving..."
Damon Lindelof: I think that's a fascinating thought. And I couldn't possibly answer that question 'cause if we were to reveal something so ginormous as the fact that the island was moving … they would fire us instantly. And also, it would be much cooler if we would reveal something like that in the show. [from the Official LOST Podcast, Nov. 6, 2006; Thanks to Soother17 for finding this gem]
Mirror Matter
Mirror matter (aka shadow matter or Alice matter, after Lewis Carroll's works) is a hypothetical form of matter that is not antimatter, though it may account for what we call "dark matter." It is thought to be distributed throughout the universe. While mirror stars and planets have been proposed, we would hardly be aware of their existence without the aid of careful measurements. The key is that "our" matter and mirror matter don't interact all that much, which allows mirror matter to exist in an almost parallel universe, and mirror matter is invisible to the eye (unless the eye is composed of mirror matter).
According to physicist R. Foot, "Mirror matter... would be completely invisible to us! If you had a rock made of mirror matter on your hand, it would simply fall through your hand and then through the Earth, and it would end up oscillating about Earth's centre."
The particle interactions of mirror matter are "right-handed," whereas the particle interactions of our matter are "left-handed." So the two types of matter don't talk too much, save for a couple of exceptions, the most interesting of which allows the electromagnetic force to be felt across the "worlds" through the sharing of photons. Gravity, however, transcends the two opposing forms of matter, and so gravitational fields are shared across the two "worlds."
This theory is hard-science-inspired, but it's absolutely science fiction. The book of theoretical physics from which I've borrowed (and butchered) this info can be found here. That book seems to be the key source of info for the show. A review article covering the real, un-doctored physics can be found here.
The Moon
The idea is that the inhabitable moon — a small planet if you're more comfortable — has only ocean, the island, and the little island with the Hydra station. That's it. Juliet: "So they have a boat — sailing in circles will keep them busy." A moon also gives a reason for the Apollo Bars.
The small size — where the island is able to cover several time zones on the moon — means daylight will last longer or shorter than normal if you cross time zones while you walk across the island. It also — with some wild speculation — allows for a region that is dark for half of the year, just like the areas on Earth near the poles. What time it is depends on what time zone you're in.
More importantly, the moon is always in motion, oscillating about Earth's center, in an elliptical orbit. As the moon reaches the extremes of the elliptical orbit it slows dramatically and nearly breaks above sea level. From the perspective of the those on the island, it's not exactly clear that the moon is orbiting anything, as the surrounding body of Earth is invisible. Nothing weird like streaking stars would occur because the motion is absolutely miniscule compared to the distance to the stars.
The sun in the sky? It would be Nemesis or another mirror matter star at roughly the same location as our sun. In fact, there's a video by Speaker (a LOST insider) that features a dark sun.
The LOST logo moves and rotates just like the moon would. An initial guess at the time for one rotation is 23 Earth hours. That means that for every 24 days on the island, 23 days pass on Earth. If you leave the island and spend 23 days on Earth, 24 instead of 23 Island days will have passed when you return; you would have lost one day. The march of time is identical — time is synchronized. In one year ~365 days pass on Earth and 381 days pass on the island. That's 16 extra days per year in the island calendar.
Magnetic Fields and the Moon's Core
A moon capable of supporting life would need a lot of things going for it, including an outer core of molten rock to sustain electric currents and provide a protective magnetosphere. The electromagnetic fields of the moon would necessarily be different from those on Earth.
It's long been thought in pseudo-science circles that magnetic fields have healing powers (remember the guy Isaac that Rose visited in Australia?). The field might also explain the birth problems. For example, fetuses might develop too fast for the womb to manage, making the the fetus more and more unrecognizable to the mother's body.
It is the core that also supplies the ingredient missing from Foot's book (it's missing, no doubt, because it would be science fiction): The unique EM activity generated by the core is necessary to allow matter to switch to mirror matter and vice-versa. Thus, the island acts as bridge between the "light side" and "dark side" of the universe.
Aurora australus is mentioned in Foot's book in a section entitled "Are mirror worlds opaque?" The details aren't perfect, but the idea would be that the atmosphere of the moon (which might contain a tiny amount of normal matter) can sometimes spawn a brief, low-altitude aurora as the moon passes near the ocean's surface (and the moon's magnetosphere crosses into our atmosphere). An very brief aurora australus was seen over the Sunda trench in the online game preceding Season 4.
DHARMA Initiative
DHARk MAtter Initiative? Might be stretch. But of all the words to choose from...
On a different world you have different physical constants. DHARMA's mission was two-fold: Ensure the moon has long-term habitability (tweak weather patterns, adjust the ecosystem with predators, exploit the geothermal activity for a sustainable power source, etc.); and, try to address the Valenzetti equation on a world with different constants.
The Namaste gesture symbolizes a peaceful meeting of the left and right hands. However, as Ben said, "one side had to go." The Others gassed DHARMA by triggering the release of sulfur dioxide from the island's core.
Entry and Exit from the Moon
For this to work, there needs to be a mechanism that will allow the particles of people and objects to shift from our matter to mirror matter and vice-versa. Whenever someone arrives on the island accidentally, they first endure some sort of electrical storm. So we'll assume that anomalous electromagnetic fluctuations while the moon is passing by you on Earth are capable of shifting your particles. So getting in accidentally is all about precise timing and location, and chance.
Controlled means must also exist for shifting. The sub seemed capable. Imagine Locke hitting the 'shift' button while in the sub. If it were in the ocean in our world, boom, he's soaked when water floods in through the open hatch. The Looking Glass would be a target for sub alignment. Line up the sub in one of our oceans, wait for the short window, and shift to the "moon pool." The materializing sub is hidden from the naive DHARMA residents. Likewise, controlled entry by parachute would make sense if you are able to shift while aligned with the atmosphere of the moon.
The Orbit (ver. 1.1)
One key assumption of the initial guess at an orbit is that the moon must intersect the coordinates in the Sunda trench given in the online game and a possible flight path from Sydney to LA. An orbital period (one loop) of 4.8 hours does just that. (96 min would work as well, but 4.8 hrs uses the numbers.)
[Thanks to lostmio for pointing out the flash animation on oceanicflight815.com; the glow in the screenshot nicely captures the atmosphere of the moon, which would pass above sea level on Earth as the moon reaches each end of the ellipse] [The section of Earth was edited by simutiger and posted here]
The overall story here is that the moon has been "collecting" people, when their location and the natural fluctuations of the moon and Earth are just right, for a very long time. The people collected throughout history who have survived constitute the Others. We'll see that two of the locations fall on land, in Africa, one in Ethiopia at the southeast outskirts of the old Egyptian Empire, and one in Mozambique.
Locations on Earth that the Moon Slowly Brushes Every 144 Minutes
If the speed of the moon's movement is sinusoidal, it should be nearly stationary at each of these points for roughly less than 4 minutes (based on some quick computations).
1. Fiji "Crash" Site 175°46'49.31" W, 11°10'42.24" S
Flight 815 shifts to the moon — and disappears, with its instruments failing — six hours in at about 10:55 pm at this location. That corresponds to 3:16 pm (or 15:16; thanks ufgatorphil) Swan/Island time. Then it flies around for about an hour and gets pulled to the island by the Swan at 4:16 pm Swan time. By having the plane shift to the moon when the instruments failed, we can explain the daylight outside the plane prior to the crash.
This spot falls on a direct flight path from Sydney to LA. Even if this theory is completely wrong, it blows my mind that the Sunda coordinates point to a location exactly 72° due west of a spot that intersects the flight path.
... after "picking up" Flight 815 at about 3:16 pm, the moon then swings toward the other side of the earth, but meanwhile, the earth rotates 36° counter-clockwise... and 2 hours and 24 minutes later (at 5:40 pm) the moon slows and reaches the other extreme of the ellipse in...
2. Atlantic North 31°46'49.31" W, 11°10'42.24" N
About 1,000 miles off the coast of Africa. This could serve as the spot the moon "picked-up" the beechcraft with Yemi aboard. If they flew east or southeast, then the spots in Ethiopia or Mozambique are the best candidates.
3. Sunda Trench 112°14'10.69" E, 11°10'42.24" S — from 112.2363 and -11.1784 from the online game (converted from the decimal notation) The brief aurora astralus was seen about here. Presumably the Black Rock sank here or at the Fiji location, shifting to the moon on its way down, and "landing" in the jungle.
4. Hydrothermal Vents 103°46'49.32" W, 11°10'42.24" N
Falls exactly on known hydrothermal vents on an oceanic ridge. More on this below. It's also a good candidate for the supply drops. Note the location on Naomi's phone. Near Fiji? No.
5. Mozambique 40°14'10.69" E, 11°10'42.24" S
LOCKE: "Slaves... this ship must have been en route to a mining colony... probably set off from Mozambique." This may have been (or still be) a secondary "seed" location (after Ethiopia) for the Others.
Falls exactly on known hydrothermal vents on an oceanic ridge. More on this below. It's also a good candidate for the supply drops. Note the location on Naomi's phone. Near Fiji? No.
5. Mozambique 40°14'10.69" E, 11°10'42.24" S
LOCKE: "Slaves... this ship must have been en route to a mining colony... probably set off from Mozambique." This may have been (or still be) a secondary "seed" location (after Ethiopia) for the Others.
6. North of Crash 175°46'49.31" W, 11°10'42.24" N
This and the Fiji Crash site are at nearly the same longitude as Howland Island, the destination of Earhart and Noonan when they disappeared. If they did end up on the island, they would have switched over at one of the two locations.
7. Off Brazil Coast 31°46'49.31" W, 11°10'42.24" S
8. Off Vietnam Coast 112°14'10.69" E, 11°10'42.24" N
9. Americas South 103°46'49.32" W, 11°10'42.24" S
Based on the tectonic activity in this general area and the calculation that the surface of the island was upside down at the time, this is the most likely source for the monster that grabbed the pilot on Day 2, and the monster that broke through the ground and took pictures of Eko on Day 50.
10. Ethiopia 40°14'10.69" E, 11°10'42.24" N
This is on the outskirts of the old Egyptian Empire. A pleasant surprise prediction of the model is that the island would have been nearly right-side up here (a quarter of a mile underground) about the time Eko was killed. If anything approximates the form of the monster that killed him, I think it was an excavator. (Picture below.)
... Then back to the Fiji site 2.4 hours later...
This and the Fiji Crash site are at nearly the same longitude as Howland Island, the destination of Earhart and Noonan when they disappeared. If they did end up on the island, they would have switched over at one of the two locations.
7. Off Brazil Coast 31°46'49.31" W, 11°10'42.24" S
8. Off Vietnam Coast 112°14'10.69" E, 11°10'42.24" N
9. Americas South 103°46'49.32" W, 11°10'42.24" S
Based on the tectonic activity in this general area and the calculation that the surface of the island was upside down at the time, this is the most likely source for the monster that grabbed the pilot on Day 2, and the monster that broke through the ground and took pictures of Eko on Day 50.
10. Ethiopia 40°14'10.69" E, 11°10'42.24" N
This is on the outskirts of the old Egyptian Empire. A pleasant surprise prediction of the model is that the island would have been nearly right-side up here (a quarter of a mile underground) about the time Eko was killed. If anything approximates the form of the monster that killed him, I think it was an excavator. (Picture below.)
... Then back to the Fiji site 2.4 hours later...
Egyptians, Hieroglyphs, and the Temple
The location in Ethiopia offers a place that could have been "used" in the past by Egyptians. EM storms that reached the surface of the desert or caves or ancient mines could have zapped people on the outskirts of the Egyptian empire to the moon. Caves would allow you to reduce a potential 1,000-foot free-fall once you've shifted to the moon. (I doubt they had parachutes.) Likewise, an entry point that precisely aligns with one of the highest points on the island would reduce the potential fall.
So a few spiritual people from way back in time in Ethiopia find themselves on the island and continue their lifestyle, erecting a solar temple on the island (probably on a summit, near a preferred entry point), and performing rituals related to the temple. So the temple should be ancient and Egyptian-like in nature.
The hieroglyphs in the Swan would then honor the earliest inhabitants of the island. Not only is the underworld sacred in Egyptian mythology, but also clearly represents where the island is with respect to the Earth.
The Timeline (ver. 1.1)
We assume the island rotates about its axis in 23 Earth hours. [This came about after Beir noticed a discrepancy between the day count and the iteration count for the radio broadcast.]
We can estimate relative orientations between the island and the surface of the Earth based on a 3:16 pm shift time and the time 815 presumably shifted at the Fiji location.
We assume the closest the surface of the island gets to sea level is 0.2 miles (sea level to sea level). This keeps it below the reach of sunlight penetrating our oceans.
- Day and Time refer to days and times on the moon. Because the days only last 23 hours, the "clock" starts at 12:30 am and ends at 11:30 pm. (11:30:59 –> 12:30:00 am)
- Orientation refers to the orientation of the island (the Swan in particular) relative to the ground on Earth. 0-90 and 270-360 mean the island is upright but tilted, potentially up to 90°. 91-269 mean the island is upside down. 180 means it is exactly upside down.
- Depth can be approximated because we're estimating the diameter of the island to be 3.8 miles. If the island is near 0 or 360°, it's also at its highest point — 0.2 miles beneath the surface. If the island is near 180°, it's upside down and at its lowest point — 4 miles down, which is often at or near the floor of the ocean.
The timeline only shows what happens every 144 minutes, when the moon slows near the ends of the elliptical orbit and gets within 0.2 miles of the surface of Earth (sea level). The rest of the time it is gliding through Earth beneath its crust.
The model says the start of Christmas Day should coincide with the evening of Day 98 (not Day 95, as a 24-hour-day timeline would predict).
The temporal symmetry that seems apparent in the show. [Thanks to HearingVoices and jane_eris for throwing out very similar ideas.]
Smoke Monster
No, it's not really a smoke monster. Instead, mirror matter theory offers an explanation.
Foot proposes a way for the two types of matter to interact... "kinetic mixing" via the exchange of photons:
"If there is a photon-mirror photon transition force, then now an ordinary electron can actually interact with a mirror electron. ... The net effect of the transition force is to make mirror electrons interact slightly with ordinary electrons."
Let's spin this to imply that light (photons) will facilitate interaction between matter and mirror matter. This will be strongest when photons in our world are present (and overlapping with) the photons present on the island. But the moon is deep within the earth—rarely even approaching its surface.
What would produce light at that depth in the ocean (or underground in Africa)?
Answer: Bioluminescent sea creatures, mining equipment in African mines, and subs and little robots like the ones Naomi mentioned.
The point: The smoke is light from our world "kinetically mixing" with photons on the island. The smoke always takes the shape of clouds of light: faded at the edges and often drifting — just like what happens when a current pushes ocean debris through the light emitted from subs and deep sea robots.
This predicts the smoke should:
- Always approximate the shape of light from a realistic source in the ocean or in a mine.
- Only ever appear for about 2 minutes (so far this is true), as the moon needs to be brushing one of those locations (within reach of a light source) for this to work.
- Only appear at some multiple of 144 minutes since the last time it appeared.
- Be able to appear in multiple spots simultaneously if there are multiple light sources.
- Respect the orientation and depth of the island.
Let's look at the position and orientation of the island at some moments when the smoke monster has appeared (this stuff and the remaining incidents are noted in the timeline above).
- The timeline says about the time the pilot was yanked out of the cockpit, the island was exactly upside down at the bottom of the ocean at the Americas South location. Deep sea subs routinely go on scientific missions to the ocean floor in this region of the ocean and they all have hydraulic arms at their bow that could grab the pilot. So the arm grabs the pilot and then drops him when the moon moves away from the area (taking the ability to interact with the island with it).
- Day 50, before noon. Eko is photographed while Charlie is in the tree. The island happens to be in exactly the same position as it was when the pilot was grabbed. So it makes sense that submersibles might show up again. Because the island is upside-down, a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) would be launched from the bow of a sub and then descend, breaking through the ground of the island.
- Eko's death on Day 72. The timeline says at 11:52 am the island was nearly upright (12°) and briefly overlapping with Earth 0.24 miles below ground in Ethiopia. So here's the best guess for what killed Eko: an excavator-like mining machine with lighting in the cabin and strung throughout its arm. The operator sees a ghostly person, flips out, and attacks it.
- Juliet and Kate photographed in the jungle. This happened sometime at night between Day 82 and 83. Here the monster POV beautifully captured the view through the camera at the front of an ROV — it zoomed down, took photos with a strobe, and then pulled back using reverse thrusters. Unlike before, where the smoke popped up, here it glided down, suggesting the sub was nearly upright. The model says the island was 26° from upright at 1:16 am on the morning of Day 83 at the Fiji site. So it makes the most sense to attribute the visit to a sub and ROV near Fiji.
- Smoke at the sonar fence on the morning of Day 83. Here it wasn't a submersible, but the light emitted from the tentacles of an agitated giant squid near the hydrothermal vents.
Mapping Cerberus Vents
Thermarces cerberus (aka zoarcid fish, aka eelpout, aka a top predator in hydrothermal vent communities) [Thanks to poster janin for finding this.]
Cerberus vents (presumably those on the show have large populations of cerberus fish)
Cerberus-related activity
Say what?
In the 1970's there was a rush to find and investigate geothermal hotsprings along ridges on the ocean floor. These vents are magnets for deep-sea exploration, and hence cerberus-related activity in the form of large, metallic-sounding smoke monsters with hydraulic arms that like to grab things.
The assumption is that the island periodically briefly overlaps with a system of vents that are frequented by subs. Hence the point of mapping where the vents intersect the island. The Cerberus System could refer to the vent system (that's what they're called) or a security system aimed at keeping the threat from the subs under control. An accident at one point rendered one of the vents inactive.
Where exactly? The Hydrothermal Vent location is so-named because it intersects a system of vents that is visited by submersibles in real life (at 11°N).
DHARMA began to use the EM field to mimic the alleged hyperspace-travel phenomena in the Philadelphia and Montauk Experiments.
In the Philadelphia Experiment, in a nutshell, generators usually used to discharge the magnetic field that built-up on metal ships were cranked way up, and the ship and crew shifted through "hyperpace" to a different place and time for a period of time before shifting back.
Take the Swan and Desmond. The magnetism in the Swan needed to be periodically discharged. Only a brave soul would turn the key, however, because it could (and did) result in a discharge powerful enough to send anyone very close on a temporary Philadelphia Experiment-like trip through hyperspace.
When the Swan released the enormous burst of photons, the electromagnetic force interactions between the worlds jumped momentarily.
The Orchid was used to try to achieve the same ends under more controlled means. Presumably Marvin Candle was an early volunteer after the rabbits and bears seemed to work. Perhaps they stopped after he lost a limb (like the alleged survivors of the Philadelphia Experiment). I like to think Adam and Eve—if not Penny and Desmond or associated with Jacob and/or the Black Rock—vanished during "the Incident," to find themselves in the past, before DHARMA showed up, and helpless.
Psychics and Co-Location Across the Worlds
People with "psychic" abilities seem capable of co-location across the two worlds. "Wet Walt" is Walt presumably projecting himself from underwater in our world to the island. Notice how Wet Walt and "older Walt" (who appeared before Locke) wear white shoes. The crashing birds are likely a result of Walt changing the EM field around himself. Many migratory birds rely on EM fields for geomagnetic navigation.
Jacob is probably doing the same thing. Notice how we only see the left eye of people in Jacob's cabin. That might suggest he's projecting from our left-handed world to the island. [Thanks to jcarlson34 for some related thoughts]
Jacob is dressed like a guy from at least 100+ years ago. So let's assume he is a guy from 100+ years ago, either sitting in the same rocking chair or else projecting from somewhere in our world. Being in the past but able to communicate with Ben in the future could permit Jacob to take actions that affect the present. For example, he could set in motion events that remove the source of Rachel's cancer, curing her by preventing her from developing it in the first place. What else other than magic could Juliet trust would work? Jacob could also set in motion events that steer certain people that Ben has vetted to the island. Jacob would be scared of light and/or EM fields because they facilitate interaction between his world and the island, and allow the situation to become frightening and slip out of his control.
The psychic, Richard Malkin, and his daughter, could be related to Jacob or else merely special. I have no doubt that when he told Claire she mustn't allow her baby to be "raised by another," he really said "raised by an Other," but we were biased to interpret it the first way.
Whispers of Migrating Souls and Ghosts Visiting the Other Side
When someone dies, their soul might migrate to the other side (light side to dark side or vice-versa). The souls appear to leave the body, stick around for while and whisper, and then sometimes appear as ghosts (if there's work to be done) on the other side. That means each side serves as the spirit realm for the other side.
The shoes seem to give the side of death away. Ben's mom, Jack's dad, etc., wear white shoes (they died on the light side); whereas Charlie (so far) wears black shoes (he died on the dark side).
Moral Relativism
"Good" and "bad" are matters of perspective. Dual, complimentary worlds, set up the ultimate ambiguous confrontation. Actually, it's like Star Wars...
Luke: I'm Luke Skywalker. I'm here to rescue you. (On the Death Star, which is property of the Dark Side and resembles a moon with one large crater.)
Daniel: I'm Daniel Faraday. I'm here to rescue you.
Self-Reflection as a Principle Form of Character Development
It's as though the island forces you to look at your true self in the mirror. [Thanks to poster HearingVoices for communicating this with elegant clarity.] The characters are forced to confront their inner demons. Examples: Hurley and his food, hallucinations, and belief he is cursed; Jack and his failure to be a great man by the standards of his father; Sawyer dealing with "Sawyer;" Boone acknowledging his love for Shannon; Desmond and Charlie and their sense of worthlessness; etc.
Locke interestingly, gave up his left kidney, and then had it murdered by Sawyer. Later on, this "left side" sacrifice saved him.
As noted above, version 1.1 of the timeline also suggests the the flash-forwards started when Day 90 was reached off-island, and therefore also suggests the show will end when 180 days (or 180°, for a complete reversal) are reached.
The name of the guy who introduced the term 'mirror matter'?
Forward
Forward
Further Evidence for Mirror Matter
If you're a fan of the show, you've surely seen a billion references to mirrors, reversals, inversions, and Alice in Wonderland (mirror matter is also known as Alice matter, in reference to Lewis Carroll's works)...
- The gigantic foot (after R. Foot)
- The Looking Glass — the idea obviously being that you typically enter this world of Alice matter through the Looking Glass station
- The black and white stones
- Charlie crosses with the opposite (and wrong) hand before dying
- Backward speech
- Rabbits, chess games, episodes entitled "White Rabbit" and "Through the Looking Glass"
- The city reflection in the Season 4 posters
- Ana Lucia's shirt is white before the crash (when presumably on the "light side") and mysteriously changes to black after the crash (when presumably on the "dark side") [Thanks to jane_eris and others for catching this]
- There's that single white shoe in the opening scene. Sounds silly, but could it be a "light" shoe for the left (light) foot? (Andyo_uk also makes a decent argument for an unusual obsession with shoes in the show. He has a couple of lists in the comments.)
- Hurley crashes into a collection of mirrors in the opening of the 3rd season.
- Part of the summary of "Valis" from Philip K. Dick's site: "an ancient, mechanical intelligence orbiting Earth..." It's a central reveal in the book. More here.
- [more coming]
Beyond the Show Proper:
- In a broadcast by DJ Dan, there was a taped interview with a student working on a project, apparently for the Widmore Corporation (likely responsible for the people on the freighter):
- Interviewer: "So, uh, then what are the possible applications of this research?
- Student: "Pretty much, we were asked to simulate an electromagnetic pulse strong enough to knock a space-borne body out of its recurring orbit."
- Interviewer: "Uh, space-borne body. Like what, exactly?"
- Student: "Like the moon."
- [Transcript courtesy of Lostpedia]
- So it might be fair to assume the primary objective might be to destroy the island... or, to correct its orbit after the EMP from the failsafe in the Swan knocked it out of its orbit
- In an ABC interview, Damon Lindelof said:
- "Somewhere just outside the Crab Nebula is where it will all end, geographically."
- Take a look at the cover of Foot's book on mirror matter. The title and Foot's name are just outside the Crab Nebula. ;-)
- "Bad Twin," the book by Gary Troupe in the Lost Experience includes two twin brothers who are identical except for their handedness (regular handedness, but also the direction in which their hair curls, etc.). Matter and mirror matter are identical except for their handedness (aka chirality; left-handed corresponding to "our" matter, right-handed to mirror matter). [Thanks to poster Konstantin for bringing this nearly perfect Easter Egg to my attention.]
- The Whitman poem in the online game leading up to Season 4 is poem # 180 in "Leaves of Grass."
- The Compass logo for the Maxwell Group has left and right (East and West) reversed. Reversals of left and right along a mid-line are arguably the allusions most specific to mirror reflection symmetry in the show.
- Svalbard? The only connection to Svalbard in recent memory is "His Dark Materials" [Thanks to tdciago for pointing this out]
Further Evidence:
- The constellations have been edited. For example, the Big Dipper has had two stars removed. What better way to suggest that constellations are mirror matter constellations and not our own. [Credit to poster jane_eris and others] And, while Carl and Alex could make up names for the constellations, it's more compelling to make up names when the constellations really need to be named.
- The species are different, as noted by Arzt. Sure, the EM field might contribute to this; but whenever someone speculates about mirror matter worlds they mention how the species would be different.
- Mikhail has only one eye. Here's part of R. Foot's description of Miros, a fictitious mirror matter world:
- "Miros is a planet made of mirror matter — atoms composed of mirror electrons and mirror protons and mirror neutrons. Miros is somewhat different from Earth though. It's a bit smaller with deeper oceans, but there is life on Miros. The people of Miros are a bit strange, they have very large feet and only have one eye ... Thus, Miros isn't much like Earth which just illustrates that microscopic symmetry of particle interactions does not translate into a macroscopic symmetry."
- The "Hatch Painting" in the Swan depicted: (1) 2 figures of opposite polarity (a normal Penny and inverted Desmond?), (2) A collection of right-side-up stick figures above the waves and upside-down figures below the waves, (3) a trajectory that corkscrews to the right (like a diagram for a right-handed, mirror matter particle) apparently representing Des' path as he fell from the boat, (4) houses beneath the waves, (5) prominent celestial bodies.
- Boone — not a philosopher, but the BooNE experiment(s) at Fermilab regarding dark matter
- Chapter 1, page 1 of Foot's book features a quote from Hawking's "A Brief History of Time."
- [more coming]
Wrap-Up
LOST begins with an opening right eye. [Thanks to blacklodge for pointing this out]
Will it end with an opening left eye back on Earth or a closing right eye when the island is destroyed?
Or absolutely neither? After all, this is just a proposal. It could be 100% wrong. Even though it is inspired by theoretical science and pseudo-science (mirror matter and a mind–electromagnetism connection), some elements (like gravity) are clearly not depicted in a way that would fit with this. The initial estimate of the size, for another example, seems ridiculously small. I could fill another tome with violations of physics necessary to pull this off. Then again, there's a cabin that jumps around the island... It's a sci-fi TV show. And that implies the inclusion of magic and also a unique form of constraints (which this theory might or might not violate). Lost exists in another reality. It's a judgment call as to how different that reality can be.
I'd love your feedback, positive or negative, specific or general.
I owe a great debt to posters on The Fuselage and DarkUFO, who have, at the minimum, given these ideas some resonance and offered amazing and intelligent feedback.
Thanks for reading. I spend a little free time here and there tweaking this. You might want to check back to see how the theory thrives or dies as the show continues.
Mike
P.S. — I can't help but recommend an excellent and different theory based on mirror matter by Big Mouth.
P.P.S. —
"Because he's in space.
As in outer space. As in orbit. As in one of a handful of human beings who have the unique distinction of not being on the fucking planet."
Integrating Season 4 Information
With time, assuming the theory isn't killed beforehand, I'll integrate this with what's above.
Positives
- A strong and volatile EM field is already part of the theory. Temporal displacement via passage through an EM field is pure fiction, as far as I know. So there's not some obvious EM explanation that makes sense in terms of real science and thus should be entertained at the exclusion of other ideas.
- The next step is to ask if an EM field is enough. That's the right approach. I mainly get stuck when I try to explain a smoke monster that swims and takes pictures. Also, with only EM in play, the apparent references to mirror symmetry and light and dark no longer converge on an obvious concept. If you like a magical explanation for the monster, and don't care about the mirror symmetry references, well you probably don't care if this theory holds up anyway...
- The chopper passed through a thundercloud (through strong EM activity) on its exit. Whether matter mirror-matter switching/jiggling is the best explanation for the trigger of the "sickness" is another story.
- The chopper exited when at 2,000 feet. A high altitude (>1,000) feet is necessary for exit by aircraft. So that fits well (and it's curious that they would bother mentioning it explicitly).
- The notion of following bearings is peachy, as you should have to navigate to an appropriate region and altitude to exit.
- The current model states that exit to the Pacific at one of the two locations near Fiji can only occur at roughly 10:55 pm (Fiji site) or 10:55 am (North of the Fiji site). Arriving at the North location would beautifully explain the shift to mid-day that Sayid mentioned. However, another, perhaps better explanation, is that the chopper shifted forward in time when it exited.
- Hurley crashed into a bunch of mirrors at the start of the season.
- The flash-forwards have primarily replaced the flash-backs.
- Charlie was wearing black shoes (he died on the island), while ghosts of people who died off the island have appeared on the island wearing white shoes.
- Day and night get wacky when people are walking across the island.
- The sat phones only talk to each other, meaning that they require very unique technology. If shifting frequency were all that's required, I'd expect other equipment could be adjusted fairly easily in a pinch.
Negatives
- I don't get a distinct impression that when you leave the island matters. The arrival on the freighter at mid-day worked, but again, that isn't a closed case. If we knew exactly where the freighter is, or we get another example of entry or exit, that would be huge.
- The 23-hour island day assumption might lop off too much time. There are some discrepancies that need to be worked out, however, before I'll bother to try a smaller variation from 24-hours.
Meet Iapetus, Weird Moon of Saturn (man, can this page get any longer?! ;-) )
Iapetus looked enough like Lapidus (the pilot's name) to catch my attention. What's awesome, though, is the additional info.
- It might be the best candidate for a mirror matter body in our solar system. (Well, according to this conference paper.)
- It mysteriously has a light region and a dark region.
181 comments:
This continues to be f#cking brilliant, Mike!
I've read many inspiring theories, but I think this one has the best chance of being correct.
John (commented before)
Now THIS is a theory!
I agree with John. Hands-down the best I've read.
Matthew R.
"Throw some mirror matter in the vicinity of earth and this is what you get."
THis is brilliant work.
S.B.
This theory has everything...but I think that the writers of the show will have more surprises the next seasons...so, don`t take any explanations for granted...anyway a great piece of work...congrats!!!
Thank you all (here and elsewhere) for the positive feedback.
anonymous (above) - I look forward to the surprises.
Mike
"I expect this entire thing would be explained with a single shot that transitions from the Earth to the moon (as the Earth dissolves) to the rotating LOST logo superimposed on the moon."
Not to sound overly enthusiastic, but you may have just "ruined" the show with that sentence.
Amazing job.
Peter
Amazing Theory! Brilliant research too! Though it actually intelegently explains everything I doubt they'll have enough time on the show to thoroughly explain something as complex as this to the typical Lost viewer. I've always felt we'll be let down in the end because most people wouldn't understand the connections we would and thus the show will probably end with simple explanations (well, as simple as explaining a Dharma janitor talking to an invisible cancer curing man on a mirror matter island/moon :^) ). As for new stuff in the next 3 seasons we'll just have to wait and see if it all fits in. Maybe this will predict some stuff. That would be AWESOME!!
Thanks Peter and Clarence!
I agree it is complicated (at least in this detailed, written form). Too complicated? Who knows. We'll have to wait and see.
I do keep getting surprised by the Easter Eggs that surface. The symmetrically mirrored twins in "Bad Twin" and the cover of Foot's book vis-a-vis Lindelof's comment I think are especially cool (beyond the giant foot and Looking Glass of course).
Mike
I found this site and was very skeptical. I read through most of it and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised at the possibility of this theory being true and the sheer detail, content, and thought in it. Nice job!
The second you get to the explanation of the monster is when I believe the theory falls apart. Time and time again the smoke monster has shown itself to have at least some form of rudimentary intelligence, think about when Juliet had the fence turned on and it gave up its pursuit, and that just doesn't seem to mesh with your belief that it's the interaction of non-intelligent light particles.
Man, that was some hard stuff to read. ^^
At the beginning I thought, thats hilarious, moon and mirror-matter and so on.
But now I have to say:
I LOVE YOU AND YOUR THEORY.
This gave me a new point of view for watching Lost. Time will tell if youre right. At least i hope so.
As said by everyone else, this is some seriously brilliant work here. Really well done. I agree with Peter though, you may have just explained away all of Lost and i kindof regret reading this now!
Another interesting(ish) thing i found is that while looking at the Philadelphia Experiment Wikipedia page, in the bit where they are talking about the annotated version of Morris Jessup's 'The Case for the Ufo', it says this:
"The lengthy annotations were written in three different colors of ink, and appeared to detail a correspondence among three individuals, only one of which is given a name: "Jemi". The ONR labeled the other two "Mr A" and "Mr B"."
The name Jemi is most probably pronounced Yemi... and more tediously could Bea (aka Miss Klugh)'s name be taken from 'Mr B'.
The second one could easily be just coincidence, but the name Jemi isnt a very common one is it..
Once again, great theory, really well written and really stimulating to read!
Callum
longhorn22 -
Thanks! The detail clearly turns some people off. Perhaps a shorter version would be more convincing -- or perhaps I should lay out what exactly I think would be explained to the show's audience.
anonymous (after longhorn22) -
Thanks for the criticism. I assume you mean that the monster demonstrates knowledge of the island and the characters. Indeed, the monster explanation is probably the most contradictory to the interpretations that I've come across. So your point is well-appreciated.
Why it would be stopped by the sonar fence, makes sense (I think). If the particles interacting with the island's particles can be stopped by the sonic barrier, so should the hypothetical squid on the "other side."
Just as an aside, the monster seems to shriek just before it moves away from the fence. Real squid don't shriek, of course, but the giant squid in "The Beast' does -- and sounds much like the monster at that moment. (I think there's video on youtube.)
anonymous (2) -
Thanks! :) The nice thing is that the theory will die a pretty quick death if those helicopters coming in Season 4 appear without obeying the proposed orbit (or another orbit that is similar).
Callum -
Thanks!
That's a really cool find re the blast door map!
There's blue, red and yellow, right? Wouldn't it be cool if Radzinsky, Inman, and Desmond each used a separate color? Again, very cool...
Mike
About the smoke monster having intelligence. Correct me if I'm wrong but would it not too see 'smoky' versions of the characters as some of its light photons reach them (or someway similiar).
Remember Juliet and Kate hiding in the rain from the Smoke Monste flashing at them. IF scientists remotely controlling a deep sea exploring robot found these (albeit weaker) smokey characters (of the islanders)would they not be immensely intrigued by and try and follow and photograph them?
If our world could see bits of the mirror world that could explain the apparent intelligence.
Ps: Bravo. This is the most explanatory, clever and interesting theory on Lost I've yet seen. Well done!
Paul,
Thanks! You make an excellent point. The island should be visible (maybe smokey, maybe ghostly) through the viewports and cameras, and it should stimulate interest.
I'd be surprised if the model is exactly right (or even very close) because so many assumptions are made. Nevertheless, Eko being scanned on Day 50 may have demonstrated just what you're suggesting... a follow-up visit from the same people on Day 2. You can add multiples of 24 days to predict later encounters with the same smoke monster(s).
Mike
Wow! Totally worth reading. This blew my mind.
It's a really amazing theory, but I do remain skeptical.
After all, this theory doesn't explain why the monster appears as a light to some (Locke) but smoke to others (he kind of explained it appearing as flashes of light to Juliet and Kate as a strobe light, but that doesn't take Locke's experience into account). This also doesn't even take into account the time(s) the monster has taken on other forms like Yemi.
There's also what Rousseau said. She's spent over 16 years on this island. She may be crazy, but when she says that the monster is a security system, I'm inclined to believe her. ROVs, submersibles, tiny robots, and bioluminescent fish don't exactly fit the definition of a security system, IMO.
Other things that I keep from completely believing this theory are those who seem to be able to get to and from the island without the supposed electrical pulse needed to "shift" people into the "mirror matter universe". For example, Michael was supposed to be able to "find rescue" by simply sailing in a certain direction. We haven't seen him since. Henry Gale, the real Henry Gale whose balloon crashed on the island, didn't report any lightning storm when he crashed on the island in his last note to his wife. Besides, and maybe I'm wrong on this, but wouldn't the balloon have been way more damaged than it was if it had been in an electrical storm? Again we were told in the Season 3 finale that Sawyer and Kate had been working on a runway. How are the Others planning on shocking a plane or helicopter in and out of this mirror matter moon? Using the Looking Glass on the sub makes some amount of sense, but everytime we've seen a helicopter or plane get hit by lightning or an EMP, it destroys the aircraft. So the runway would essentially be useless unless the Others were planning on crashing planes and rebuilding them every time they enter and exit the island.
Another thing, how can the freighter be "80 miles" from the island if the island is a moon of mirror matter? I suppose you could say that the moon includes the island and the ocean around it, and the ocean around it extends for at least 80 miles, but then why did the freighter appear 80 miles away instead of right at the island where the monster and all the crashes appear? It just doesn't add up at this point.
Now this may be my limited knowledge of mirror matter and radio waves talking, but is it even possible to transmit radio signals from a mirror matter moon into the real world? If mirror matter and normal matter can never touch, then mirror waves and normal waves shouldn't be able to interact either, should they? If I'm right, how do the Others talk with the outside world through the Flame Station? We even see a supposedly live feed from the outside world through Richard courtesy of the Flame Station, but that doesn't seem possible given what we know about mirror matter (then again, maybe this is possible, and I just don't realize it because I don't know that much about mirror matter).
One more problem with this theory comes in with the whole course correction thing. The theory says that anyone who dies to enter this mirror matter moon (i.e. the Losties) is doomed to course correction if they ever leave the island. However we've seen Jack and Kate alive off the island. What makes this even more unbelievable though is the fact that Jack had the chance to die AT LEAST twice during the flash forward. He was about to commit suicide, and he almost got hit by a car (and then his plane could have possibly crashed, but that could have been your average turbulence we saw). If he was going to die, why didn't he? There were plenty of opportunities for Jack to die in the flash forward, but he walked away from all of them. Unless destiny just likes toying with Jack before finishing him off, I don't see this part of the theory working out.
Anonymous (second to last) -- Thanks!
Anonymous (above) --
Thanks! I actually share several of the critiques you make. The "theory" has some finality to it because it's on a webpage. But it's really just one version of one idea of one...
To take a stab at doing justice to your points:
* The smoke monster might transform into apparitions, but I'm inclined to think it doesn't. There's no evidence either way, so I've gone with the one most consistent with the mirror matter angle.
When Walt appeared before Locke, was that the smoke monster? Could have been. But I think it might have been Walt himself, projecting himself.
* Rousseau and the security system. I'm at a loss on that one. But we do know that her words cannot necessarily be taken at face value. (e.g., WHO killed her party?)
I think seeing robots in action with strobes will strike a lot of people as being very familiar.
* I should clarify that getting struck by lightning is not what I meant. That type of storm would just arise because of the freaky EM fluctuations necessary to shift particles.
* If Michael simply cruised out to a waiting boat, that would completely sink this theory. Instead, he would need to rendezvous with a sub or aircraft.
* MIKHAIL: She says her ship is approximately 130 clicks to the West of us. She has a radio telephone.
That one bugs me.
He saying that's what she SAID... so there's that... but still...
The best I can do is assume the boat is 130 km to the West of the location at which Naomi shifted over to the moon's atmosphere.
* I don't know enough to give an answer, but yes, to me it does seem like there should some serious limitations to communication. But that's assuming the producers know themselves and that they aren't willing to bend the rules. Clearly, they already do bend them (WTF was that with Desmond?), and would have to further bend them to let this kind of theory work.
* I agree that the course-correction stuff is weak. Frankly, it's superfluous. But, it might be nice to have some reason for a crappy life after leaving the island. We'll see how that turns out.
I hope that helps (you, and the other visitors reading this)
Thanks again!
Mike
Oh, the light that Locke saw...
We don't know that that light was from the monster.
The Swan was built because they drilled into some source of bio electric, magnetic energy in the ground. Perhaps that's what Locke saw. (Got me :))
The most direct explanation based on the theory is that it was the core of the island that Locke saw deep underground.
i totally get lost...hehe...no pun intended....but really, i totally get lost in the whole part here:
"For this to work, there needs to be a mechanism that will allow the particles of people and objects to shift from our matter to mirror matter and vice-versa"
but the other parts of the theory makes sense me:
"The overall story here is that the moon has been "collecting" people, when their location and the natural fluctuations of the moon and Earth are just right, for a very long time"
and
"Mittelos (Bioscience) is the cover name for off-island operations and, by this theory, refers simply to what happens when the Others make off-island excursions. If you're off-island for a few months and then return, more days will have passed on-island than did for you during your off-island excursion. For example, for 23 days off-island, instead of returning 23 island days later, you would return 24 island days later, and "lose" one day.
This "lost time" is only due to the difference in the length of the days. The march of time, so to speak, is identical on- and off-island."
these second parts of this theory could lead me into why i think Desmond has so much to do with the premise of LOST. i think Desmond has, at one point(when he turned the fail safe key), gotten off the island and came back.
there are 2 points that make me think this (I'm sure maybe more, but this is all i can think of at this time).
1)when he turned the fail safe key, we saw what seems to be the flashback/flash-forward where he is remembering things on and off the island that have already happened (how he knows charlie and how he is having flashes of Inman) and how he learns that he can change things but the world has a way of course correcting.
2)when he meets up with jack in the stadium as they are running...after a lengthy discussion about jack's patient, Desmond says "what if you did fix her?" like he changed the events somehow and "see you in another life" like he remembers that he will see him again.
Hi Michelle,
Thanks for comments.
"For this to work, there needs to be a mechanism that will allow the particles of people and objects to shift from our matter to mirror matter and vice-versa"
Let me try to elaborate. Forgive if I've "aimed" this wrong. It's hard to guess exactly what you're looking for in an explanation.
The idea is that we've got these two sort of parallel universes. In one, we've got everything we see here on Earth and in the sky, all made of "left-handed" matter. In the other, we've got other planets, other stars, and, in instead of Earth, we've got this little moon with an island, all made of "right-handed" mirror matter. (But I'm sure you got all that.)
To go from the Earth world to the island world, you need to change your matter's handedness from left-handed to right-handed. If you can pull that off (somehow), you suddenly vanish from Earth and appear in the right-handed "mirror matter" world.
Suppose this moon thing (although invisible to us on Earth) happens to be a few miles below your plane when you and the plane change to right-handed matter. Poof, you disappear from Earth and appear up in the sky above the island.
I think you're right about Desmond going back in time and trying to change things. It's hard to figure out if he "time-traveled" or flashed-back to a time when he knew about the future or something else entirely. The producers keep saying different things. But it's surely important.
Mike
this is awesome, but what about the pregnancy and fertility stuff?
Hey anonymous,
I do like ideas about souls and whatnot, but this particular theory would steer the answer toward something based more in the realm of pseudoscience. The simplest explanation in accord with theory is that it's the EM field doing its "pump-up the biological processes" thing. Perhaps the fetus develops faster than the mother's womb can handle?
Mike
Hey Mike.
Excellent theory, I truly hope the show turns to a conclusion similar or identical to this, since it's an amazing demonstration of thought from those who made the show, and it should appeal to any fan, seing all those tiny pieces of the puzzle fit perfectly in the end.
The "cerberus" theory and course correction seems to be the main areas where you are taking arbitrary shots to make it fit in. However it doesn't appear to me, that your monster theory is a critical part of the overall thesis. The rest of the theory could basicly still stand if the monster and destiny aspect turned out to be some weird sci-fi gimmick the producers just threw in for good measure.
And on that note, there's nothing that limits the show from incporporating several explanations, such as using religion (heavily!) and ancient mythology to underline the points pseudoscience don't quite cover. Or maybe even invent their own mythological "moon-beast-of-smoke-and-mirrors" to explain it. If you have the first season DVD, I suggest you listen to the commentary on, I think it's the Pilot where Lindelof or Cuse or whoever it is (long time since I heard it), teases about what the monster is. I remember them saying that it's pretty SIMPLE, maybe only to annoy viewers, but a squid would definently amount to "pretty simple". But that's one of the best things about the show, it appeals to many aspects of our knowledge, understanding and ideas of the world.
Does your theory fit with the monster being heard and seen ripping trees up from the root on the first night the lost ones spent on the island by the way? If so, that would be a really cool demonstration of excellent writing and foresight from the writers part, all the way from the PILOT Episode.
The idea of mirror matter seems even more plausible taking into account the writers affection for using actual mirrors, character mirroring, and symbolic mirroring woven into a lot episodes (http://www.losttv-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=42619 has some good references)
Subtle heads-up clues which the writers propably love to wave in front of an audience, who accuse them of having no idea were they are taking the show. Speaking of clues, are there anything supporting your theory, small indications, to be seen in the promotional poster for season 4? I find the city skyline in the reflection eerily significant for some reason.
link to poster: http://www.docarzt.com/lost.season.4.poster.jpg
This study blew my mind, so thanks for connecting the dots dude. It's really good work. Kind of gave me an extra shot of confidence in the show's mythology. The long wait is almost over now. Let's see if this holds up through this half of season 4, although I think you kind of get to "trim" your theory just a little on some areas.
Oh, and sorry for not limiting my writing here, and since it's my second language I hope it's a bearable read as well.
Alexander
Hey Alexander,
Thank you for the kind comments. I can't vouch for your accent ;), but your English writing is fantastic!
I think smokey being a squid (in the one scene) would certainly annoy some viewers. Ironically, the smoke stuff motivated the rest of the theory, but many readers find it to be the weakest part of the explanation.
In my conception, the smoke explanation is integral to the theory. It leads to the approximation of the radius of the orbit, as well as the length of the days, clarifies how Naomi's story about the robots could have a semblance of truth, and fits (IMO) really well with the hydrothermal vents. The thing is, in Foot's book, photon—mirror-photon kinetic mixing is given such prominence that I would be surprised if the show involved mirror matter (and so many apparent related Easter eggs) but left out such an obvious way to add a mystery to the show. In other words, if I want to posit that the show is about mirror matter, I think it's only fair to explain the smoke monster in the way that I've tried to.
As for the monster appearing on the night of the crash... The current model (on the page) suggests the monster could have come from of several locations, depending on the time, any of which could have supplied the monster (though when it supposedly reached the vent site, the island should have been "buried" in the oceanic ridge beneath the vents, so that location is less likely).
In the poster, there's obviously the reflection. I think that's the only potential allusion I see. There are, however, several elements in the new online game that might "jump out" at someone who has read Foot's book. One is the "reflected" Big Dipper (on the page). Another is the aurora astralus, which is mentioned tangentially in a section of Chapter 4 entitled 'Are mirror worlds opaque?'.
As I like to tell people who think this is all too complicated: All of the details here make it very easy to refute the theory. It says, for example, that cameras lowered into the Sunda trench should stumble upon the island for only about 2-4 minutes (probably around 10:43 pm), and the island (and possibly the people it finds) should have an other-wordly, possibly smokey appearance; If they want a view of the exact same spot on the island from the trench, they'll have to wait for another opportnity (the model says exactly 23 days). Anyway...
Again, thanks.
Mike
Great read, I've scanned over this a couple times and really enjoy it. I just watched the Other 48 Days and wonder if maybe in the first few seconds of the episode lies a clue...
After the tail crashes and we are underwater, the view comes up and out of the water, only the image is upside down and it looks like the view "falls" out of the water so to speak. Now the logical side of me says they are just showing the effect of disorientation, but with this theory in the back of my mind maybe it's a "clue"?
Thanks Jason :)
That's a great find that I never noticed when I saw the episode.
A poster named jane_eris earlier raised what I think it is you're talking about... For a few frames, the island is upside-down.
It could represent Ana Lucia's POV as she is upside-down for a moment. But it IS strange, and that explanation isn't very realistic IMO. Still, odds are they flipped the camera for a second. Perhaps it was deliberate, but I think it's hard to say.
I'm back to reading about a "body acted on by the gravitation of a sphere..." Seems to bolster the whole EM angle, but there also seems to be plenty that fits here. It will be interesting to see if the paper offers a way to explain everything with EM alone.
Cheers,
Mike
Mike,
I just came across your theory last night, and I think it is a brilliant idea. I had already come to the conclusion that mirror matter has to be essential to the plot, and you added some very thoughtful ideas to that. While I'm not too sure about some of the concepts, I think you've hit on the big point. You should know that there's a poster on alt.tv.lost who has thought for some time that the Losties are inside a hollow earth. Certainly the reflected cityscape is the perfect analogy for such an "underworld."
Prior to reading your theory, I hit upon the idea that Charlie's Driveshaft ring, which reads "DS", actually stands for Dexter Sinister (Latin for right and left). They've already given us half of that info in the name Dexter Stratton. I also noticed, in reading about mirror matter and "dark material," that Svalbard, which plays a part in a Find 815 ARG clue, is associated with _His Dark Materials_. I posted about this to alt.tv.lost yesterday ( http://groups.google.com/group/alt.tv.lost/msg/f981fb6dda234d53?dmode=source ).
By the way, I think "Portland vs. Starboardland" was an excellent thought, and makes me wonder about the title "Left Behind." Recall that Sun also gave Jin a list of English words before he left on the raft, and we hear him struggling with the words "port" and "starboard."
Your moon theory surprised me, as I have a pet theory about Sirius and Greek mythology, and have noted many, many star clues. However, moon fits in perfectly with Apollo, the multitude of rock clues (moon rocks?) and certain plot and dialogue references ("Moonlight Serenade," "I go out walking after midnight, out in the moonlight...").
Because I have also followed numerous clues about holes, I think there is a wormhole or black hole component in the plot. Your theory about the rotation of the moon is an alternate explanation that would cover the strange location anomalies between the Pacific and the Indian Ocean, and the Beechcraft, etc. However, ever since Boone suggested "Maybe we should do one of those hole things. You know, stick the pen in the throat?" in the pilot, I've felt that a wormhole, with its throat and mouths, was being referenced.
Anyway, there's not enough room here to go over 3 seasons' worth of clues, but I wanted to thank you for the time and effort you put into your terrific theory.
tcdiago -
Thanks for stopping by and sharing some really cool connections! The Dexter Sinister, in particular, is a very clever one.
IMO, in the bigger scheme of things, there seem to be two prominent "frameworks." There's "it's all EM and related science/pseudoscience." And there's "there's some mutant wormhole/black-hole type stuff at the center of this." As I think you mentioned in your post, EM is one of the four fundamental forces. If Damon and Carlton appreciate that point, then they could attach weird EM phenomena to almost any explanation where unusual physics are involved, including black-holes, of course.
And then there are the almost countless, beautiful allusions to the material in Foot's book.
We'll have a much better handle on this stuff when we know how much of OMF42's info is legit. If CTC's really are involved, then I think we're looking at a hodgepodge (which I would find disappointing) rather than a more unified explanation.
I look forward to reading your thoughts.
Mike
Apologies for misspelling your name.
Hey Mike.
I don't know if you care that much for the symbolic references to the moon, but I believe the writers intentionally throw a lot of images at us, so there is confusion and different conclusions drawn from stuff, but it's still worth mentioning where the moon plays part.
Although there are millions of references to various things it doesn't exactly hurt to have symbols supporting the case you're making.The cool thing about moon references I think are the subtelty they are shown in, like it's hidden in plain sight. Not overexposed like say, religious symbols. As previously mentioned "Moonlight Serenade" is mentioned at the end of The Long Con, The moon is (almost hidden) in the right corner of the mural (actually) painted by Jack Bender working on the show, who might not be kept in the dark, regarding the entire plot. Also in the room Carl is seen watching the "indoctrination" video, the moon is seen in a few frames. Also the LOST title most commonly seen on DVD-sets and posters looks like it has "moon-like" texture inside the font. Hope you haven't been reminded of these ideas too many times, or there's at least one there that's remotely new. ;)
Cheers.
Hey Alexander,
Thanks! I have heard of most of those before, but the reminder was nice.
To add to your idea, I think the best and most convincing allusions are those "hidden in plain sight," as you say, but also completely unnecessary to the story. They make you ask, "what's the point of including that random thing?" Well, if it supports such and such a theory, then it will gain symbolic meaning when the "what" of the island is revealed.
I think the Apollo Bars and the giant foot are the best examples I can think of that support this particular theory.
Speaking of allusions... I've been meaning to include this one:
Benjamin Linus
A common translation of Benjamin is "son of right(hand)" and Linus was the son of... yes, Apollo.
Together they suggest that even though Ben wasn't born on the island, he was destined to be the "son of the island."
Cheers.
Thanks Mike for another great reason to invest time in watching LOST. You posited Charlie's left handed sign of the cross as further evidence for mirror matter, and I agree except the left handed crossing signals the Island is the "real" left handed world and the world of the flashbacks/forwards is the "false" right hand mirror world. Does not Mirror Matter hypothesis involve the bulk of the universe to be mirror matter? Or am I confused with dark matter theory. But if mirror matter does represent bulk of universe, that would explain why in the right hand world there exists fertility whereas in the lefthand world of the Island, there is no fertility. Props to your theory were displayed last night in the enhanced "through the looking glass" when the caption discussed the prominence of "mirrored realities." Unless you have been silenced by ABC--what is your price--please continue posting FURTHER EVIDENCE until debunked or proven. CUMay2010.
Hey Overlord —
Check out my response on Dark's site.
Whether mirror matter is dark matter is speculation upon speculation. But, I have heard that there could be a huge proportion of dark matter (as I think you have).
By default, I think we should assume that the island would be in the right-handed world. I'll be keeping your idea about the opposite being true in mind, however.
Cheers.
Mike
Holy F$%@!!!
Did you play the last chapter in the game?
I did.
...
So far, so good. Nice to finally see the ROV / hypothetical smokey perspective. Too bad it didn't use the strobe.
Still, can't complain. That was like a birthday present.
Cheers.
Also, if you notice on the wall, there is a purple/pink spot among the waves that has the number 42. Look at the coordinates of where the moon intersects the earth. They all end in 42.24. which is also a mirror image of the number.
Maybe someone has already said this but the four toed statue was a statue of a Foot and the man who came up with the mirror theory was named Foot...
First off...AWESOME THEORY. Second. I think this perfectly explains something I caught no more than two days ago. The reflected skyline in the water for the season 4 promos. I'm sure you all have heard about this, but I think tying that in with this theory lends even more weight to it.
-Adam
hidefromthesun17 —
Thanks. Funny, believe it or not, I never noticed the 42 is kind "mirrored" in the coordinates.
anonymous (2 above) —
Actually, that's why the statue is at the top of the page. Glad you caught it. Assuming the general mirror matter thing is correct... I can imagine the creators going, "There's this HUGE fucking FOOT on the island, paying homage to the guy behind this stuff the whole time."
Adam —
Thanks. Yeah, saw it. And I think you're right about it fitting nicely. I threw this page up on the internet over a few days of vacation. Now I'm kind of in maintenance mode. It's something I should include when the traffic slows down a bit and I can focus on this again.
Mike
Awesome theory!I'm going to be stopping back often to read the updates. I have very little to add, but two things that came to mind: Ben and his thing for rabbits (another Alice reference, in addition to Of Mice and Men), and, when Carl is reminiscing, what does he say about the constellations? Something about them all being different, and naming them? I remember thinking it was an odd comment when I heard it on the show.
That's all I've got, but you've got me wanting to hunt for more! Oh-- and one other thing. I keep thinking of Jacob as a Jacob's Ladder-- a bridge between heaven and earth where the angels travel. so, maybe he's the bridge between the earth and the "heavenly body" within it? So interesting...
romy —
I think that's a brilliant conception of Jacob! I love the idea of the ladder (vs. the patriarch; though it could be both).
I should probably throw in the rabbits, chessboards, etc. asap. Thanks.
I agree with the constellations. (Actually, it's already on the page — not that I expect people will make it that far down).
Cheers and thanks.
Mike
Awesome, Awesome theroy!!! It is the best I have read and I did make it all the way through. :) I look forward to updates.
Congrats lostinsawyer'seyes... you made it all the way through, so you make the list.
Thanks for the compliment.
Cheers,
Mike
This is fucking amazing and has a very high probability of being correct...I would bet that atleast some parts are defo explanations for Lost if not all of it...I am just wondering though, would the moon continue to brush earth at the exact co-ordinates? How else would the dharma planes drop off food?
Just read through the entire comment board and found most of them to be very interesting...completely random but I read the entire thing as well lol it was too intruiging! And as for the poster link someone put...there seems to be a invisible division between Jack and Locke? I know the people left of Jack, atleast three of them get back...there are 6 people on each side of the invisible line. What you said about the mirror thing being right handed? Locke and the other 5 are on the right hand side? So maybe the oceanic 6 are Jack, Kate, Hurley, Ben, Claire and Sayid? Dont know if it was mentioned here but I read that alot of the stories are close to a book called Lost Horizon by James Hilton, 1933? Here is a link to read it for free : http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks05/0500141h.html
Anyway have definitely bookmarked this and hoping to get back to some updates! Nice work Mike =]
A truly amazing thoery. The best one that I've read, and I've read loads. I haven't read all the comments though so forgive me if I'm covering old ground:
The whispers: When Sawyer is hunting a boar in Season 1, you can here "it will come round again" quite clearly.
Naomi landing on the island: There is a crash and a splash, but no-one goes out to look for the helicopter. Indeed Sayid actually asks if anyone saw it.
Piece by piece, it is all fitting together.
Nice one.
JG
lil-beeyotch (lol) —
Thanks. If you assume the orbital period (one loop) divides evenly into 24, then it means the moon will hit the same spots repeatedly. A 4.8 (24/5) hour loop seems to work well as a first guess. Thanks for the link to the novel. I haven't been able to read it, but I've heard about some cool connections. I like the reflection among the people in the poster idea, but I don't think the Oceanic 6 are on just one side...
Thanks again.
Mike
JG —
Thanks. Rumor has it we'll actually see divers near the fuselage. While it seems to be a fake wreck, having divers talking underwater (along with the ROVs) does set a convenient precedent to come back to.
I never considered that Naomi's helicopter remained invisible... I've thought it would have "switched over" with her, and then she lost control. If she switched over without the helicopter, that would seem to fit with what you're hinting at.
Mike
so, how did the island pick up a polar bear?
Hi Karen —
Easy answer. It didn't.
The DHARMA Initiative brought them in. More here:
http://www.lostpedia.com/wiki/Polar_bear
Mike
great theory, there are so many little things that points to mirror matter that im now convinced that it has to be part of the answer in some way.
where does pressing the button in the hatch come into this theory? and the significance of 108 and also 4 8 15 16 23 42 (the lotto numbers)
anonynomous —
Thanks.
The Swan station story:
DHARMA realizes the outer core of the moon (which supports its magnetosphere) is the source of its weirdness/cool properties, so they drill down into it. For some reason the hole caused the core's particles to align at the hole and create a stronger and stronger magnet. You could "degauss" the magnet whenever you like, but 108 minutes (chosen as the sum of the numbers simply because it would be cool) was about the cutoff point before it became dangerous. I don't think anything important actually happens every 108 minutes.
The rest is up on the page, but, basically, the degaussing mimics the alleged Philadelphia Experiment, and the enormous release of energy (for some reason) in the form of photons leads to massive kinetic mixing and thus a big burst of EM activity around the island in our world.
Re the numbers:
I don't think a theory of Lost needs to use the numbers everywhere, but they pop up some places here:
4.8 — orbital period
16 — number of extra island days per Earth year
23 — # hours in an island day, # of days on Earth between perfect alignment with the moon, # of degrees separating the pairs of north and south points (only if you round up)
42 — mirrored in the latitude of each coordinate (hidefromthesun17 pointed that out above)
15? I'll have to look more
Cheers,
Mike
"* MIKHAIL: She says her ship is approximately 130 clicks to the West of us. She has a radio telephone.
That one bugs me.
He saying that's what she SAID... so there's that... but still...
The best I can do is assume the boat is 130 km to the West of the location at which Naomi shifted over to the moon's atmosphere."
Remember that Sayid said he had never seen a phone like Naomi brought. It was probably designed to communicate between the mirror worlds and she lied about the boat's actual location.
Anon —
Thanks. It still bugs me. One would think Mikhail would be fully-informed and so make a more careful statement. Still, I doubt he'd say, "She has a boat that she thinks was 130 clicks to the west of our location when she entered our atmosphere."
That's a good point about the phone. They made a point to say that even a communications specialist was unfamiliar with the technology. I've left out some other subtle ways that might be used to communicate between left- and right-handed matter. But the theory is too far over my head for me to attempt a reasonable explanation.
Curious that Mikhail called it a radio phone while the others have called it a sat phone. The moon would be a satellite... but I think that would be stretching it...
Mike
This is a fascinating theory. Forgive me if I missed this, but how does your theory explain why women who conceive on the island die in childbirth?
Kristen —
The simplest guess is that the fetus grows too quickly for the womb to handle (because of the EM field).
Mike
I am beyond speechless and in awe of this theory. No rock left unturned, very thorough explanations. I hope this proves to be true, only time can tell!
- Gen
Has anyone seen episode 2 yet??? I was watching all the parts and I kept going OMG thats what he said! [He being Mike lol] I think the whole them being on the moon thing works bcuz the place where Miles was found? Its the same place as when Desmond followed that dude who was in the hatch before Des I think and the ground looks part of the moon...though I personally dont know how the grounds in moon would look like =S another thing, I dont know where I read it but I think it said that Jack was on seat 42 or something? Maybe the oceanic 6 are the people sat on the 6 numbers they had to input in the hatch?? Random thought though...ahhh episode 2 has got me itching like mad =\ anyone as curious and irritated as me??
Mike, about where you proposed the plane crashed, you were SO close, I was amazed =| but I think the plane crashed in the Indian Ocean...so maybe all the co-ordinates have changed? Actually I have no idea what Im talking about right now =S
Ah-- I missed the talk of constellations. I need to re-read everything more carefully. But wow-- my head was spinning after watching episode 4.2! The polar bear in Tunisia! There's the Africa connection again. And clearly Ben is doing a lot of jumping on and off the island, possibly without anyone else knowing of his dis- and re-appearances. I think he's got to be able to cross over extremely precisely, both in terms of time and locations. How did he get that gun with no one noticing and his hands tied!?
This is by far the most plausible theory explaining what has been going on in Lost the last few seasons. I am literally blown away by how accurate this theory seems to be! Congrats on this...you obviously did your homework! I am almost afraid to send this link to my friends b/c I prefer being the only one to know what the hell is going on!
I love this theory and think there definitely are some correlations between the theory and what is happening on LOST.
I think my biggest question (and not sure if you have an explanation for it) is how there were so many survivors when the plane wrecked. Even in the mirror universe it seems people die and are not immune to death and pain that is seen in our world. Usually when a plane breaks apart the way it did on LOST there would be no survivors. I am wondering if there is something above and beyond this theory that may shed some light as to how there were so many survivors in such a horrific plane crash?
Aside from that I think that this theory is definitely a great one and I will be following it closely in how it relates to future episodes!
You're forgetting the scene with Jack and Cindy the flight attendant. She's walking around with the kids nonplussed at what's going on -- like everything is harmless and Jack will soon enough be clued into what's happening.
Gen —
Thanks! I'm never more than cautiously optimistic. But I think the theory will be put to the test this season.
lil-beeyotch —
So far so good, as far as I can tell. There is a crater on the island, but I think it's probably from the volcano that would have erupted to form the island. Interesting idea though...
The seat # thing... I think people checked that out and found that it doesn't quite work.
Indian Ocean?
The spot where I think the plane disappeared, as well as the spot where they found the (probably fake) plane, is in the theory.
Romy —
Guess he just caught Carl off-guard.
The polar bear, I would speculate, is from an Orchid experiment (zapped like Bunny 15 as a test subject). It would be cool if the bear could sort of fall off the moon, in a sense, but Tunisia is too far removed from the current model of the orbit.
GP71 —
LOL! Thanks. I appreciate it.
Anonymous —
Thanks. Maybe the island's (EM) healing powers helped people recover?
Basically, I think they wanted an ensemble cast, and that wouldn't work if they only had 1 or two survivors (at best).
Anonymous —
Yeah, that scene made it seem like Cindy was planted by Ben on the flight. Or maybe she was just a "good" person. There's certainly more to the story.
Thank you all for the comments,
Mike
Sheer Brilliance!!!
At least some of this has to be right.
Great work!!!
Jim —
Thanks! If nothing else, I'm pretty confident that mirror matter is central to the actual story. There are just far too many allusions, IMO — Bad Twin being the perfect one. And they keep coming...
Hurley crashed into a bunch of mirrors before seeing Charlie in the one-way mirror... (I'm rambling...)
Mike
A well thought out theory, nicely done.
I got one question.
The video transmission received at the flame station. As well as the song received when Hurley and Sayid were on the beach. As the transmission to the Looking Glass Station?
Why do I get the feeling Mikeny and Bigmouth are the same person? Take this as a compliment, Mike. Your style is just soooo like BM's. VERY interesting, well constructed theory. Kudos.
tas —
Thanks.
AFAIK, there would have to be some sort of translation of left-handed (Earthly) signals to right-handed signals (and vice-versa). The advanced nature of the phones might be a clue to just that.
I imagine the old broadcast would have been one of the few broadcasts bouncing around the moon. It presumably would have slipped-in in the 1940s after being "converted" like any other entering material. I've imagined the broadcast of the numbers was hidden from the Earth (unless you have a translating device or are near some strong EM activity) by virtue of it being right-handed.
But this communication business is beyond my understanding, so I can only throw out speculation...
John —
You know... If you take 'BigMouth', convert it using numerology, add the numbers, and find the corresponding ASCII, yet get 'MikeNY'.
Big Mouth is the consummate Lost theorist, IMO. So it's very much a compliment.
Speaking of which, here's his blog of simply amazing Lost theories, for any visitors who are interested:
http://eyemsick.blogspot.com/
Mike
ynekim,
Great work, your model and theories are impressive, plausible, and connected on many levels with the show. I wish I would have read it when you posted it back in December rather than last night haha. I have a few comments about the model, what it predicts, and some questions.
Could you tell us more about the major clues that helped you create this model? Like, how did you know about Foot’s book on mirror matter? Was this through personal experience or a clue from Lost?
I remember seeing a post discussing Locke’s prediction for when the rain stopped in the last episode (2/7), and we’ve seen Locke do this before when he was with Boone. Would you attribute Locke’s ability to the EM field on the Island?
Also, and I think the model predicts this, do you think some of these rain storms are connected to the times when the Island is intersecting the ocean at one of the coordinates from the online game? This could be another explanation of the predictability of these storms.
If ocean water is being shifted to mirror matter, it’s hard to believe that no one on the island would have commented on the raining salt water, but the model does allow for ocean water to shift to mirror matter right? Is it possible that the particle shifting electromagnetic event doesn’t affect ocean water?
It would be interesting to see if Locke’s predicted storms fall on a 144 minute point on your timeline (if it’s possible to pinpoint the times of the storms).
To add to your earlier discussion with “overlord” about whether the Island is the right-handed or left-handed world, I think the gigantic foot provides a clue. In your proposal you’ve linked the gigantic foot on the Island to physicist, R. Foot, as evidence of mirror matter, an argument you can further by pointing out that left and right feet are mirror images of one another, but I think it’s important to observe that the gigantic foot on the Island is a left foot (L. Foot?). The best explanations are usually the simplest ones, and so my first guess is that the Island is the left-handed world.
Do you think the future events revealed in the flash forwards can be changed? So far the futures of the Oceanic 6 look pretty depressing. Is this really their fate?
Finally, I don’t really understand the formation of the mirror Island. I didn’t read Foot’s book so I’m finding it difficult to envision how the relationship between the Earth and the mirror Island was able to occur the way it did. From your proposal and from the Wikipedia link, Mirror Matter theory claims that there is a mirror matter particle for every ordinary matter particle, EM force can be felt by both worlds through photon sharing, and gravity is shared by both worlds.
So, if there is a mirror matter Island then there is an ordinary matter Island which would be viewable by Earth. What happened to it?
Also, for the mirror Island to orbit within the Earth it would have to do so without running into large masses of mirror matter, but both worlds share the force of gravity which I imagine would cause the mirror matter and ordinary matter to condense towards the center point of the Earth. In this scenario the mirror Island would surely run into some other mirror matter within the Earth.
Lastly, if the two worlds did form side by side, like mirror images, and the mirror Island was captured by the Earth’s gravity then would that mean the ordinary matter Island was captured by the mirror Earth’s gravity? That would be a large chunk of ordinary matter floating around going unnoticed.
Hi Jav —
Thanks. I'll take a stab at your thoughtful comments.
I bought Foot's book perhaps a year ago. But I hadn't read it too closely until I started thinking about Lost and CPT inversion.
The rain stuff is fascinating, and I was just commenting about it somewhere...
My current thought is that the rain is triggered when the atmosphere (magnetosphere?) of the moon overlaps the atmosphere of Earth. So the rain would be fresh water.
The catch is that, assuming it is merely Earth's rain shifting over (and not a storm from island clouds triggered by the overlap), it should only last as long as the smoke monster (2-4 minutes). I'm not sure if the duration of the "instant monsoons" is that short. I haven't checked.
Making the enormous assumption that the gist of the theory is correct, and adding in the enormous assumption that the model is pretty close, the rainstorm in Confirmed Dead most likely would have been from about 9:50 to 9:54 am (when the island would have been close to upright beneath Ethiopia).
It would be awkward if ocean water routinely shifted over. Where are all the fish? ;) But there there do seem to be the rare exceptions that fit with the plot.
Good catch on the foot! I like the idea a lot.
But... we are most definitely in a left-handed world, and this is made very clear in the mirror matter literature and Foot's book. I'm keeping the idea in the back of my mind, but, perhaps it's a left foot because Foot is from the left-handed world? I can only guess...
I think the producers said there is only one future (plus there is course-correction), so my guess is that what we've seen is the one true story line.
The mirror matter thing is a bit confusing. The mirroring is only on the scale of the particles. The arrangement of the particles (atoms and up) is largely on its own it each world. So there isn't mirroring on a "macro" level. In other words, the two sides are left to form somewhat independently. There need not be — in fact — there shouldn't be — an identical mass on each "side." There wouldn't be a complimentary ordinary matter moon.
I'm not sure about the matter mirror-matter ratio. I've heard a range of ideas.
The formation of the moon is pseudoscientific speculation. But reading Foot's book, one (or at least I) is left with the impression that mirror matter in the vicinity of Earth would condense via gravity (much like any other celestial body), most likely forming a single mass that then cools.
In reality, if mirror matter exists, the actual events would be considerably more complex, and perhaps not likely. The interactive forces would play a huge role, in my understanding.
I really enjoyed your comments. Did that help?
Mike
Questions?
1)how come there was wreckage of plane with dead bodies?
2)In flash forward, how can people believe that all passengers are alive?
3)Why was smoke monster not able to cross the fens when following the kate and juliet?
manishkmalhotra —
1. The wreckage looks like a fake. But I think some strange duplication / hyperspace / wormhole explanation might still work (i.e., perhaps a different theory).
There IS something special about that spot. Sam, the guy on the freighter, saw a weird, brief aurora there and also the ghost of his girlfriend. Plus there were those weird magnetometer readings the ROVs were getting.
2. You mean the creepy Abbadon guy and Naomi? Great question. They no doubt understand what the island is and think the wreckage was a cover-up or the result of some weird space/time stuff.
3. The explanation is that the sonic wall of the sonar fence acted like a barrier. Stuff corresponding to stuff on the "left-handed" side can be stopped when the smoke is stopped on the "right-handed" island side.
I hope that helps.
Mike
I have recently read that in the next episode of lost it is shown that there is a 31 second time difference between earth and the island(dont know how true it is).
Would this disprove the theory? if not how would it change it?
Anonymous —
If true, that wouldn't strictly disprove the theory, but it could be a severe pain — certainly something that would require an explanation.
It points to a gravity, wormhole, or electromagnetism-based explanation. Fortunately, this theory has two of those in play.
The delay would be at odds with what we've seen communication-wise. So hopefully there will be more than a throw-away line on the matter (but I'm not holding my breath).
The news would seem to kill a whole bunch of theories that rely on substantial time dilation or mismatched timelines, however.
So we'll see. This is the stuff that makes the puzzle fun.
Mike
Mike,
Great theory! The references to Apollo in the theory and the Apollo bars on the show caused me to research the birth of Apollo. Here is what I found: As you said Linus (as in Benjamin Linus) was the son of Apollo!
"When Hera discovered that Leto was pregnant and that Zeus was the father, she banned Leto from giving birth on "terra firma”or the mainland, or any island. In her wanderings, Leto found the newly created floating island of Delos, which was neither mainland nor a real island, and she gave birth there. The island was surrounded by swans. Afterwards, Zeus secured Delos to the bottom of the ocean. This island later became sacred to Apollo."
Wow! Baned from in essence giving birth on Earth; gave birth on a island not made up of Earth properties; island was surrounded by Swans; then Zeus puts the island at the bottom of the ocean!!!!
Anonymous —
:) We're on the same page.
Believe it or not, the original version of this theory was called "Adelos, blah blah blah"
Before the island was called Delos, it was called Adelos, which was invisible and drifted about on its own.
Great find! Thanks for sharing it. I completely missed the part about the swans.
Mike
I've only just started watching this (I'm going back to read the recaps on TWoP). My roommate would probably kill me if I directed her to it, but it's really cool stuff to read.
I'm not sure what "Bunny 15" is - but could that be the tie to the 15 in the sequence of numbers you weren't able to complete? I think all but 15 had a connection, but you had a ? next to 15 . . .
I'll definitely be back!
Ok this theory is really cool.. but there is something I don't understand.
The moon never actually breaks through the surface of the earth's crust, right? (you wrote in one part " But the moon is deep within the earth—rarely even approaching its surface.")
So I guess I don't understand how it was able to pull a plane, or a boat or objects outside of the water into it's "snowglobe" without anyone noticing.
Does the plane (or whatever) disappear from where it is and reappear around the moon, sort of like teleporting? Because if the plane switched into the moon atmosphere 6 hours in, and didn't crash for another hour, I don't understand how it got beneath the surface of the earth.
Also, how did Desmond sail into the moon?
I thought I read everything, but maybe I missed something major?
McGillicudy —
Thanks. Yeah, still not sure about 15. I'm not sure it needs a specific purpose in the show, but that would be nice.
Bailey —
Thanks. People would notice things getting pulled in. According to the theory, the "pulling in" is why flight 815 mysteriously disappeared 6 hours into its flight. That made the world news on the show.
Yeah, I imagine the plane would sort of teleport (without actually jumping in space). Within a matter of seconds, if not instantly, 815 would sort of teleport into the moon's atmosphere (out of the atmosphere above the Pacific). From then on it would join the moon on its orbit around Earth's center of gravity.
Desmond would have "switched over" like 815 and the Black Rock — switching over as his boat descended into the ocean and sort of landing on the moon, in a sense.
Think of boats being pulled into a whirlpool and ending up in another place. Actually, Miles Straume probably comes from maelstrom, which means whirlpool. But I don't think we're dealing with actual whirlpools on the show. The plane, of course, wouldn't have gone through one.
I hope that helped a bit. Maybe there's something obvious that I'm not communicating clearly enough. (I'm sure there might be many parts that could be made simpler.)
Mike
A buddy, (one of Relic's Angelics), sent me the link to this blog. They sent it because I proposed a near identical theory, a mirror if you will, theory. I will respond in more detail later when I have more time. But, I just had to say good work. You are nearly there.
However, I am more of the opinion that the mirror matter was created by the Degroots. Remember the suspended rock clip in the first orientation film. Remember as well Walt's comic book and the picture of a bubbled city floating in the air. I have so much more to add but am at work. Later and thanks.
psychedelicrelic —
Sounds great. I look forward to your comments and your theory. Please drop a link to the theory here so I don't miss it.
Cheers,
Mike
BTW, Relic's Angelics? Awesome.
sounds great everything looks like its fits into place however someone mentioned to me it doesn't explain the babies born on the island and the mothers dying part. Just a thought you might want to add into there.
Anonymous —
It seems everyone is obsessed with the birth problems... :)
I've now included a bit in the magnetic field section.
Thanks for the reminder.
Mike
Great Job, Mike.
I just wanted to add that DJ said in the game that Jacob was born over 100 years ago. Making his age somewhere around 108 or something like that. Just thought I would drop that in.
Also, the experiment to test mirror matter was called DAMA/Nal. While it is not a direct reference, it can be seen as a connection to DHARMA. I may be reaching, but hey so are a lot of others! hahaha
hey mike i was just reading through the comments and also noticed there was another anonymous who wrote about the Hera creation theory (i should have read through previously but really can you blame a guy after reading all of your site in one sitting :-P ) what he said:
"When Hera discovered that Leto was pregnant and that Zeus was the father, she banned Leto from giving birth on "terra firma”or the mainland, or any island. In her wanderings, Leto found the newly created floating island of Delos, which was neither mainland nor a real island, and she gave birth there. The island was surrounded by swans. Afterwards, Zeus secured Delos to the bottom of the ocean. This island later became sacred to Apollo." makes alot of sense, thought i'd add my name this time
If the flight disappeared 6 hours in, and we are looking at an approx. time of 3:16 pm, military time would be 15:16. Don't know if that explains those two numbers, but I thought I would throw it out there.
hi mike,
great site. love the theory. seems more and more likely with each new episode. i don't know if anyone else has already mentioned this but i think the "sri lanka" dharma logo practically confirms your theory.
http://www.lostpedia.com/wiki/Image:Dharmafvh7n.jpg
the lostpedia description says hyrdogen atom, but after reading your site it clearly appears to be the earth, the moon, and a tiny moon inside the earth. have a look.
-jay
Great point about the Dharma logo.
This is the most satisfying explanation of the smoke monster I have seen.
You know how the writers have always said that the core mystery of the show was set up from the very beginning of the show's development? I think this helps explain what they are talking about.
Episode 3 has got me totally confused =/ I am pretty sure about one thing though...the Oceanic 6 have to be the 6 guys standing on the left according to the season 4 poster...i mean we know 5 of the 6 now and they were all on the left side =D and the 6th has to be Clair since Desmond saw her get on the helicopter after Charlie drowns and if she and Aaron dont escape then Charlie died for nothing =[ =[
I have a really daft question though, where did you get that picture of Jacob? I havent seen much of him in any of the mobisodes and I cant recall seeing much of him in the actual episoded either except when Locke went into the cabin with Ben for the first time before he got shot but I swear we couldnt actually see Jacob? Have I missed something =S
So what do you think about the time difference?I think it was 31 mins? and all the passports and money make it seem like it is very easy for Ben to switch between the Island and earth?
Hi mike,
Great read, its a bit 'out there' for me to be convinced, lets hope Im proved wrong, for all the typing youve done ;)
a couple of questions..
1/ how far down the scale does this whole left/right handed business go? Ive read they swapped arms with jacks tattoo and other weird goings on... intentional bloopers...but
http://gallery.lost-media.com/displayimage.php?pid=17752&fullsize=1
http://gallery.lost-media.com/displayimage.php?pid=99324&fullsize=1
charlie seems immune.
2/ if smokie is light entities from our world then how did manifest itself as a little boy/Yemi to Mr. Eko, then when it killed him, look like a hand doing the hand of god thing before slamming him into the ground.
3/ still with smokie, if losties see our worlders/lights as the smoke monster, then wouldnt the same be true to us, mirrored. The squid would be chasing 3 smokie blobs (losties), a mini-sub would be pulling a smokie blob out the smokie plane? (the pilot).
4/ Surely one of the losties would notice the 23 hour day, we know jack has a watch. Every 12 days, day would have become night, then 12 days later back to normal again... surely someone would realise. Are windey watches affected by magnets or just digital?
my head hurts.
Apologies for a late arrival, but I only discovered this essay today after seeing a link to it from Tim Goodman's blog comments. First, gotta say, this is brilliant stuff!
Couple of questions from recent episodes:
1) Does the proposed orbit of the mirror moon coincide with where the polar bear remains with the Dharma collar "washed ahore" to be excavated by Cassandra? Tunisia, wasn't it?
2) If I'm not mistaken, dying Charlie wrote his warning on his right palm before pressing it to the glass for Desmond to read in the Season 3 finale. But when Future Hurley sees the ghost image of Charlie swim to the window/police station interrogation room mirror in Season 4 Ep 2, the message "They Need You" is scrawled on Charlie's LEFT palm (another mirror image).
3) It makes perfect sense now that, after 90 days on the island and all flasbacks, the series flipped on its axis and we would get 90 more days with only flash-forwards, until a final explanatory flashback in the series finale.
As a practical matter, the plan was to give us 16 new episodes over each of the final three seasons. But Goodman's column confirms that there will now only be 13 new eps in Season 4, because of the writers strike. Anyone know whether this means the story must be condensed into three fewer shows or if those three other episodes with be added into the final two seasons?
Brandon —
Thanks again.
DAMA/Nal... yes, and there's also DHARMA Tel (I think) on the "blast door map."
DHARMA Initiative = DARk MAtter Iniative, like CENTCOM?
I'm not 100% sold. But it's an odd similarity, right?
iwillnotstumble —
Thanks. :) You're on the record :)
ufgatorphil —
That's a really cool, subtle find. Yeah... maybe 15:16 really is correct. Thanks!
Jay —
Actually... I think it does fit... scroll up the page ;)
Thank you, though. :)
Aran —
Thanks.
People seem to love or hate the smoke monster part. Go figure... :)
lil-beeyotch —
I don't think the oceanic 6 are actually on one side. Wait for the next episode...
The Jacob photo is from a screen capture from somewhere...
Anonymous —
The time difference business drives me nuts. I think it might be explainable by a higher density (for higher gravity) core of the moon, or possibly its speed. Or, maybe the show is all about a life inside a black hole... not sure :) I'll surely include more once the whole thing is more settled.
Anonymous (2) —
15 minutes a day buddy... (for several months) :)
1 — All of the flipping that you can see in the show would be just allusions to the mirror symmetry. It would be happening only at a scale that is so small it would be nearly undetectable.
2 — I don't think the monster manifested itself as the "ghosts" we've seen — none of them. Not Yemi, not the boy, not Jack's dad, not Ben's mom, not Walt, not Jacob, not Charlie. I think those are all "ghosts" that some how exist in the electromagnetic fields of the earth/moon. I realize this goes against some common ideas. But I think Miles' ghost whispering further supports the idea that ghosts don't equal smokey. It's all speculation, of course, and either account might be true.
3 — Yes, probably.
4 — We notice the short days, right? Does Jack still have/check the watch? I honestly can't remember. But if you can point out something, I'd love to hear about it (it would obviously be very relevant and potentially problematic for the model).
Anonymous (3) —
Thanks :)
1 — It would be a severe stretch to say the bear could have "fallen off" the moon with its current orbit. A poster named PaulineMRoss has a cool idea about a past "incident" (like an EM pulse and/or massive release of photons) shifting the orbit. That would also explain why Widmore et al. probably knew where the island was in the past but might have trouble locating it now.
Another explanation is that bear was "zapped" like Bunny 15 as a test subject.
2 — The hand thing is great!!!
3 — Yeah... the temporal mirroring in the narrative I think bolsters the idea of 23-hour days.
There was also brilliant, simple catch by a poster named blacklodge that the show opens with Jack opening his right eye. Could it end with the left eye opening upon return, or maybe the right eye closing as the moon is destroyed?
I think I heard they would tack on the missing episodes to the later seasons.
Mike
While mirror matter is probably the right conclusion out of all the evidence I doubt it could be a moon. Assuming that gravity is preserved through mirroring (i.e. how the moon would be captured by Earth's gravity) and that physics are somewhat consistent then the orbital period of this moon would be about an hour and a half, pretty much making everyone on it weightless.
If it is a moon and Desmond said that he sailed for 2 weeks to get back to the same island that would make the circumference of this moon smaller than Earth's moon (16mph average at 2 weeks, that's racing speed). So wouldn't they see a curvature on the horizon?
Amazing.
Anonymous —
In short, yes. I have a circumference based on Desmond taking a trip along a meridian somewhere. It makes the size seem more reasonable, and it might spare the horizon problem, slightly.
The bigger potential problem is gravity. The moon could be seriously dense (which might explain the possible time dilation to some extent). But I'm relying on the severe difficulty in (1) computing the physical effects, (2) the severe difficulty in implementing them, (3) and the fact that they would be a dead give-away.
It's the clues that seem to suggest a moon in orbit — apparently shorter days, distance between plot locations on earth, 72° between the trench location and a point on a direct path, the Apollo bars, "Linus," sailing in circles and snowglobe comments, and other comments — and make me favor the moon over, say, a larger stationary mass.
It's difficult to know where to draw the line between evidence and plausibility. I think the gravity/horizon line has probably been crossed.
But then, the show clearly isn't motivated purely by realism.
Desmond's "time-travel," the "ghosts," and the disappearing shack are flat out impossible AFAIK, no matter what the writers have read.
This whole thing is based on milking two big, arguably implausible, concepts (mirror matter and a connection between electromagnetic and the mind). And I realize it treads a narrow path.
Thank you for raising some very important issues.
Anonymous —
Thank you
Mike
Has anyone taken a close look at the lines in the Dharma logos? The producers said there's importance in the lines. Morse Code? I lean to the side that they look like mirrors reflecting in, as if in an array.
I love this theory, even if it proves incorrect its the most thought provoking I've read so far.
A question though. If 815 was somehow duplicated during the flight's transition and the whole concept of mirror matter is true. Could each human being in that plane be a mirror of their true self (who is now on the island). Therefore wedding rings appearing on the left hand in real life appear on the right hand in the duplicate? This could explain why the pilot didn't have his wedding ring on the left hand, which was not visible in the ROV shot.
and what about all the passports/bundles of cash in Ben's room from the last episode? the passport name is "dean moriarty" a possible reference to sherlock holmes' nemesis, who traveled the world in various guises to strike? would he just slip back and fourth to earth, grabbing the appropriate ID and currency for where ever he ends up based on how the orbits are synchronized at the time?
Thanks Mike, your theory is fabulous and explain a lot of things about the show. I'm going to recommend this page to my friends of LostBrasil at Multiply.com.
Cheers!
Explain the polar bear!
Great theory otherwise :)
But, for all we know, you could be blowing smoke up our you-know-whats, but that would be VERY complicated smoke, so I trust you.
Matthew —
Those lines are from the bagua. More info here:
http://lostpedia.com/wiki/DHARMA_Logos
The "Sri Lanka" logo (up on this theory page) seems to fit pretty well (the little dot being the moon). Though the logo might represent a hydrogen atom...
Anonymous (1) —
Thanks.
I like that line of thought. There is something special about that location. Even if 815 crashed elsewhere, there was still a brief aurora and a vision of Sam's girlfriend in that area (Sam being the guy on the freighter who found the plane).
Unless I'm mistaken, there's also a broken cockpit window on the opposite side of where it is on the island's cockpit.
Still, mirrored duplication (despite bunny 15) isn't found anywhere in the mirror matter literature (with my very limited exposure and understanding).
So it's an intriguing possibility...
Anonymous (2) —
I love the picture you paint with Moriarty idea. If you suppose this whole wacky theory is correct (well, the moon idea, anyway), that would make an enthralling story-line (for me, anyway).
The producers said the sub is just one part of the mechanism for entry and exit. Is switching handedness the other?
If some sort of teleportation (wormhole or Philadelphia; not mirror matter) is in play, I think your idea for Ben would still be awesome and relevant.
Rodnei —
Thanks. I appreciate it. If you can drop a link here so people can check out your site/post, that'd be great.
Anonymous (3) —
Thanks. The bear, in short:
1. A test subject zapped from the orchid.
2. A different orbit prior to the "incident" in the 1980's(?) positioned one of the locations near that location (from which the bear was somehow shifted to Tunisia). The incident moved the orbit to the locations mentioned above and thus the island has been hard to find since the period when the stations were constructed by Widmore, Paik, etc. That's a clever idea from PaulineMRoss.
It makes the Egyptian, Earhart, and Black Rock connections less viable, however. So I'm going with (1) for now.
Mike
Totally confusing but WOW! I think you're onto something here. As long as it can be explained in layman's terms to those of us without such abstract-thinking brains then LOST might be the most brilliant and thought-provoking show in television history. Kudos to you MikeNY for putting all the information out there in one post and for trying to make it understandable. I successfully procrastinated for over an hour. :)
I should confess I am a total novice in all this, though I have posted 1 long theory elsewhere. It was more of a parody, written with ‘tongue in keys,’ yet many took it seriously. What I perceive here is a mirror dialogue hidden within the larger story. A literary Matryoshka doll? Bigmouth creating a digital alter ego? Perhaps not, though in binary code bigmouth is nymike. I caught your reversal bigmouth!
Seriously though, you’ve done a truly astounding job here, big Mike. (BMny?) The level of detail and connection makes me wish more young minds like yours were focused on connecting all the dots in our equally complex and bizarre reality. We are all truly on an island in space, and we better get our act together cause nobody is coming to rescue us.
Now removing my rose-tinted glasses; you've provided a mental exercise here that is many steps above watching TV or playing most computer games, and reaching an audience that wouldn’t watch West Wing no matter how informative it was. Keep up the good work, and try looking for ways of tying in the show with what is actually happening in our reality dimension. Chrysler was bought out by Cerberus, a corporation with an interesting history and built on hedge funds. Are there anagram companies for Widmore and Hanso? Analogies of LOST and Dharma, with global warming and our disrupting the entire food chain of the ocean tied in? Just some thoughts. Great job, Mike. A true masterpiece that will be read long after 2010.
Mike
Just read your theory, and whilst not even scratching the surface of understanding all of it, I just had to post to say that I totally go along with the mirror matter reasoning ... not because I understand it, but because of something that's had me obsessing since I first became aware of it and started looking everywhere on the web to try and work out what it was about..
The CONSTANT references to shoes or lack of them in the show !
And then one simple reference in your theory made me go ahhh !
The physicist R Foot.
Huh ? .... I'll explain ..
In no particular order:
*The tennis shoe in the opening scenes of season 1.
*Charlie removing his shoe to get the drugs on the plane.
*Kate removing the 'sensible' shoes from the body on the beach when she's first going off on a trek with Jack.
*Locke wiggling his toes with missing shoe, after the crash.
* Hurley standing on a sea urchin.
* Hurley's mother twisting her ankle when she goes to see her new house.
*Jack spraining his ankle at the stadium when he first meets Desmond.
*Sarah wiggling her toes when Jack's telling her she's paralyzed.
*Libby twisting a guys dislocated leg after the tail section crash (with one shoe missing).
*As mentioned in your theory .. the statue.
*Sawyer getting hit with a dart in the foot.
*Nicky mistaking Artz for Paulo at the crash site (when all she saw were his legs with one shoe off).
*Nicky removing Paulo's shoe looking for the diamonds, and throwing it in a tree.
*Locke being treated by Jack after getting his leg trapped by the blast doors. (with one shoe off)
*Ben's dad drunk and asleep on the sofa (with only one shoe on).
*Charlie diving down to the looking glass station and losing a shoe.
*Kate sitting on a rock with one shoe off on the trek to the radio tower.
Ok... enough.
The thing they all have in common is that in each instance, the camera focused just a little too long for it to be immaterial on ..the right foot.
R Foot!!
Have the writers been dropping clues to your theory since episode 1?
MikeNY:
Great theory. I'm truly impressed. I thought I'd raise some issues that at best need some explanation and at worst weaken the theory significantly.
Doesn't the fact that they just hopped in the helicopter and took off indicate that they weren't worried about any E/M event happening to transform particles from right-handed to left-handed? Moreover, they certainly didn't appear to do a rough and dirty analysis of where the moon was in its orbit at the time. Of course, if it was upside down and halfway across the globe, it wouldn't make sense to fly out the same way you flew in.
Relatedly, Daniel's admonition to go out on the same bearing doesn't seem to jive with your theory. Again, that wouldn't make sense, let alone be important, unless they were leaving at the precise point in the orbit as when they came in.
Further, have you tried to figure out where the moon would be on its proposed orbit when the freighter shot the missile? If the moon was facing down, wouldn't that mean that the missile couldn't have "fallen" from the sky?
Finally, I know you noted this in your update, but mirror matter alone wouldn't seem to explain all the time distortion/potential time travel that is going on (unless there's something about mirror matter I don't understand).
I'd love to hear your thoughts
HicksterAZ —
Thanks. Now get back to work. :)
recursive prophet —
Thanks for the very kind words. It would be great if Lost provokes more interest in real physics. There's certainly a paucity of interest in science — at least in the US.
AndyO_UK —
Wow. Thanks for the list!
You say there's always a focus on the right foot?
That definitely wouldn't be an accident...
I'll check it out and definitely add it in if it's nearly 100% consistent.
Anonymous —
Thanks! Your comments reflect my thoughts. We're on the same page.
Game plan for strongly contradictory evidence: Revise the orbit, Drop the orbit, Reconsider the mirror allusions.
What if the helicopter pops out somewhere other than the trench or near the flight path? The theory predicts that might occur. That result might give evidence for and against.
Had the rocket needed to, I imagine it could follow a path more steeply curved than a ground to ground projectile usually would.
Mike
The rocket riddle still isn't sorted out to my satisfaction (but I think it's getting close), so I'm not yet sure if it's good or bad for the theory.
I think a dense moon could superficially account for the possible dilation. Although a dense moon might be necessary, it's not an explanation I'm in love with.
The thing is, if we drop a parallel matter premise, I can't see a way to account for the smoke, let alone with the specificity that kinetic mixing and a moon in motion can provide.
I LOVE THIS THEORY! If it isn't what the producers have in mind it certainly should be. I think it's better than anything else they could come up with. My favorite part is that it explains that stupid monster in a way that is so smart and interesting. I do have one huge question that I can't seem to resolve. Maybe you explained it, but basically, my question is how do you deal with the sun? Where is the island's sun? If it's a sun where our sun is, it would be hoping all around the sky like crazy all day and they would surely notice... Would it have a be a tiny sun located where the earth's core located in our universe? I guess the same goes for the moon... Anyway, THANKS!! It's truly AMAZING.
Just noticed that Dharma was breeding great white sharkes - which were first named by scientist Carolus Linnaeus(!). These sharks have an extra sense which enables them to detect the electromagnetic field emitted by the movement of living animals. Every time a living creature moves it generates an electrical field and great whites are so sensitive they can detect half a billionth of a volt. Coincidence?
micaelea —
Thanks. I like the monster part too. But it's a love/hate thing for people.
I would expect other objects in space to not jiggle noticeably, and perhaps not at all without very careful measurements. The diameter of the Earth is miniscule compared to distances through space. Orbiting would be much more like really slowly jiggling ever-so-slightly than zipping from way over there to way over there. (Hopefully I addressed your comment.) Thanks.
Mike
Yes - thank you... I think I get it. I guess I was thinking more about the rotation of the moon. It would have to face same direction as the earth faces at the same times. It it were rotating at it's own pace or rotating at all, then I guess the sun would hop around. Your saying it stays facing the same direction as the earth, but rotates WITH it. So lets say it faces, i don't know, Australia, all the time. And then it's WHOLE ORBIT rotates with the earth so that the sun looks normal to them.
It's complicated stuff, and I think I lost your description a bit. I think it's the part about facing the same direction as Earth that confuses me. Give me another shot?
WOWWWWW mikeny, genius theory, but i think the authors have something more simple for all people to understand, dont u think?
rosy —
Thanks.
Sure, it very well could be too complicated.
Though, for all my blathering above, the point is just this:
They're on a little world on the other side.
What I think matters is in the 3rd paragraph (perhaps I'm wrong about the detail that would be necessary).
Cheers,
Mike
Actually i have a qst and i dono if it was asked b4 coz i kind of didnt read all the posts, but what about the numbers, hurley won the lottery with , and he got them from his crazy friend ( do u think this friend was on the island and back 2 earth?).
its also as if the island speaks to every person alone, like they were chosen.
and jacob?
once again WOW, the idea of mirror matter never crossed my mind, and i think its the best explanation
rosy —
The numbers are kind of hidden throughout the theory. I think I posted this info above in the comments, but here is some of it again (with some improvements based on feedback):
4.8 — time for loop around the orbit
15:16 — time the plane entered the island atmosphere
16 — number of extra island days per year because of the shorter days
23 — number of hours per island day; number of Earth days between perfect alignments between a certain spot on Earth and the moon
42 — mirrored in all of the latitudes for the locations on Earth; perhaps also the tilt of the moon relative to the angle of its orbit
I'd guess his friend was never on the island. Rather, the numbers slipped out much as something might slip in.
I'm not sure the people were chosen. But I think Jacob's list is real, and he might steered some of the passengers onto the plane. There's more on Jacob above in the theory.
Thanks. Cheers.
Mike
Mike
Back again with more shoe / foot related tomfoolery ...
The left foot has come into it on a couple of occasions:
Dave .. Hurley's 'imaginary' friend lost his left slipper. But then again .. that meant he only had a slipper on his right foot. Hehehe.
Or maybe the situation was reversed for some off island / on island mirroring reason?
Also, Sam Tooney(?)'s wife had lost her left leg in the accident that killed Sam. But again .. that could be read into that she only had her right foot.
Other general shoe / foot related things that were focused on for just a little longer than necessary, if you want the list expanding, include:
*Locke keeping Helen's engagement ring in a sock.
*Locke using a small tennis shoe as a salt shaker when cooking boar.
*Sayid giving Shannon a gift of shoes.
*Hurley owning a shoe factory that burned down.
*The guy with the red shoes sticking out when the building collapsed in Flashes before your eyes.
*Jack and Christian dipping their bare feet into the pool while Jack was trying to think of his wedding vows.
*Locke taking his shoes off when first entering the Swan Station.
*Seeing Claire knitting only 1 booty for Aaron in the Staff Station, and later finding just the 1 booty when she returned with Kate. Right or left .. hard to tell :0)
*Juliet on the sub with no shoes on, and focusing on her feet with shoes on as she climbed out.
Maybe they're not all exactly R Foot examples, but I'm sure you'll agree ... there's LOTS of general shoe / FOOT related stuff being focused on so far. And like I said ... it's been bugging me for ages, so I'm happy to stick with the thought that they're all clues pointing to R Foot.
Or maybe I just have a foot fetish ! Ha!
Excellent theory! The amount of detail is just astonishing.
I would be curious how you would explain Jack;s remorse for leaving the island and his desire to return in this context.
Well... first of all, thanks for your patience... SO... the earth is rotating and orbiting. And we're used to where that puts the sun every day and night. So the mirror moon would have to be doing the same thing (as earth) in relation to the mirror sun or they would notice a huge difference. The only way I can resolve it is to say that the mirror moon is somehow rotating and orbiting WITH the earth so that the relation to it's mirror sun isn't noticeably different. Anyway, the bottom line is that I'm way over thinking it. I'm just going to relax and see what happens tomorrow!
p.s. ANDYO_UK - very interesting about the shoes/feet!
Andy —
Damn. :) Well, sure, I think you have a case to make. The question to ultimately ask is... Well, let's go with the realistically high probability that the show has zero to do with mirror matter. On such a show, would they still include a lot of scenes with shoes as a quick plot device? In other words, what's the basic rate of shoe scenes for TV shows, and desert island shows in particular?
I don't know; but I think the number of scenes in Lost seems a bit high. Feel free to keep adding to the list. :)
anonymous —
Hi. Thanks.
One of many departments this theory sucks in is the motivations of the characters. Nevertheless, I'd guess that they made 2 or 3 helicopter trips before either (a) they became unable to return for some reason, or (b) the people on the freighter refused to make any more trips. Now Jack doesn't know how to get back, and he probably regrets not trying harder to force the freighter people to go on more runs with the helicopter.
micaelea —
I think... the answer is: Yes, the moon orbits around the center of Earth and both bodies orbit TOGETHER around the center of the galaxy. If that doesn't clear it up, by all means... :)
Mike
this is just brilliant! great work!
Excellent work mikeny, you're a genius!!
so, let me try and get this straight... you are using an Einsteinian Hyperspherical Universe (which is a theoretical model based on contradictions) to explain lost?
in terms of simple quantum mechanics can you explain to me how you have managed to bridge the gap between classical field theory and quantum field theory?
i only ask as i am currently involved in graviton location and this would aid my research.
Anonymous (1 and 2) —
Thank you for the overly-generous compliment.
Anonymous (3) —
Good luck with the graviton. Rumor has it JJ Abrams found it in 2001, but the work is unpublished.
For those more astute viewers who realize this is a sci-fi TV show, the two concepts are quite dissimilar (in my very limited understanding).
Mike
this is awesome!! you should try to explain your theory on abc.com it is great!
Mike,
The constellations I mentioned in my email don't seem to correspond to any sort of pattern. I thought of that when I first figured it out, but those constellations aren't even all in the same hemisphere. I was hoping maybe they'd correspond to the blast door map, but so far I can't figure out any correlations.
how about that helicopter flying towards the thunderstorm in the preview for episode 5?
Anonymous (1) —
Thanks. Feel free to make a video for me. :)
Lisa —
Bummer about the lack of arrangement in the constellations. It was probably a long-shot anyway. Maybe you'll still find some really cool connection.
Anonymous —
Believe or not, I often miss the live episodes because of work. I'll probably catch it online on the weekend. Flying towards a thunderstorm sounds great though. If the clouds clear and they're at one of the non-Fiji/non-Sunda locations, that would definitely get my attention. Thanks for the heads-up.
Mike
Look at this picture of John Locke:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Locke
vs this picture of Jacob:
http://bp2.blogger.com/_yid19BZ8o5A/R13x04vcRiI/AAAAAAAAAHQ/MFm8dnXruwo/s200/150px-JacobLight.jpg
you are aware that mirrormatter is antimatter and doesn't work in this way?
...or are you using mirrormatter in the dark matter sense?
however, i am interested in the energy calculations you used to reach such a conclusion.
i always have problems with the planck constant.
shali —
Thanks.
I'm getting the impression that Jacob might be able to choose his form. It turns out that the original picture of Jacob was just the prop guy.
Anonymous —
Tip: A prerequisite for clever comments is knowing the material before formulating the comment.
Mirror matter ≠ Anti-matter
If you think the mirror matter idea is stupid, you surely realize an anti-matter moon would be more stupid. Then again, you might not.
Really, it's sad to respond to a sci-fi theory of a sci-fi show on some guy's blog with a half-assed "I'm smarter than you" comment.
There's plenty to critique. But if you can't communicate like an adult, don't bother.
Mike
if you would actually read comments you'd have seen that i was asking which form of mirror matter you were using and asking for the energy calculations you used to reach such a conclusion.
i ask because i do not understand your conclusions and wish to know if you are actually studying this field or whether you are just making brash assumptions about what you think the subject matter is.
SWH
SWH —
Then you have my sincere apology.
But you must read too.
Under the 'Mirror Matter' section it immediately states that it's not being equated with anti-matter.
Likewise, look at the smoke monster section. A physicist couldn't read that and posit that there's actually a manuscript lurking behind this.
I am an academic (not in physics), and academics always read first. So understand that I could only interpret your comment as snide.
You'll probably find Okun's review up your alley:
http://arxiv.org/abs/hep-ph/0606202
Best,
Mike
Wow, this is amazing.
Just too many coincidences and easter eggs for there not to be some serious truth in this.
J
Hey,
FOUR TOES is an anagram of R FOOT plus the word USE or SUE.
Bill W
This is awesome!!
If this isn't right, they should co-opt it as the back-story.
This is at least inspired mostly by real scientific thought and the little ball (moon) bouncing back and forth in the big ball (earth) is a very easy visual IMO.
I can't think of another explanation as good for smoke monster. Lindelof and Cuse said it's not nanobots so the remaining "scientific" explanations are few and far between. This is easily the best "hard science fiction" explanation for the monster that I've seen. ***Actually it's the ONLY one.*** The monster explanation alone is enough to convince me that this theory is a viable contender.
Mark W.
Aaron was born in the island, then now he is an ET :-)
Nice theory!
Well written!
LOTS of LOST theories.
Hurley's approach to Jacob's cabin..the quick shot of a man looking out the window at Hurley appears to look like Desmond to me and that the dark siloutte in the chair looks a lot like Jacks father in his suit (similar shoes).
Kate back on 'the main land'...she has a blonde child that could be Sawyer's, yet is named Aaron. Did she steal Claire's baby? The childs age would be right for her amount of time being back.
the Monster..a magnectic force still bond to the laws of material physics, not being able to to cross the fence. Place a magnet near its opposite force and it gets repelled. It's color reflects what energy force it comes upon. That being, Locke sees it as being white, a sign of good, in his faith for something promising. Many Survivors being in their state of fear see it as black, a sign of bad. The greater number being in a state of fear out weighs the few that see it as good. opposite attraction. mirror reflection. Nothing is is a sit seems on the island.
Quite a few people on 'the main land' obviously know about the island. It really isn't a mystery of it's existence anymore. It's a matter of controlling that.
I'm rambling.
Quantum physics. Ever possible existence is happening on every possible plain of extistence.
Population collect, it's natures natural form of controlling it. If women could have children on the island, it would be over populated in no time. And they'd have to leave. Only to come back and turn it into a vacation resort. A 'fantasy island'..
(this isn't my greatest of my plains of existence. ;)
Thank you so much for a fascinating read! But I have to say that I think there's probably more to it than all of this . . . and only because the writers seem to have built a second element into the equation. There is the constant tug of war between faith and science, Jack and John, natural and supernatural. I think if they plan to explain everything away scientifically in the end, it is going to leave the character of Locke, who has a strong connection with the island in his mind, seem like a weak and pathetic character. I believe that the writers want John Locke around till the bitter end and he is going to be a largely significant part of the answers. We have already seen what happens when he lives by sight instead of faith (i.e., the explosion of the hatch) and I am lead to believe they want us to think he "learned his lesson" from that experience. I hope this makes sense, it's rather late and I've already got a "brain sprain" from reading your incredibly detailed theory. Haha, but I do want you to know that it is quite interesting and I believe may have at least partial significance to the storyline before the end! Congrats on a great piece of work!
2 things: In the scenes from next week Sayid is yelling at the pilot something like "Why are you flying directly into that thunderhead?" (!)
It also seemed scetchy when Miles asked Kate to bring him to talk to Ben. I think rather than actually offering Ben a 3.2 million dollar bribe, Miles was passing Ben some kind of code. Maybe 3.2 is an important # or coordinate or new point of entry or something.
Dude, what a great job on this. I am a recent convert to the show, having caught up on the DVDs prior to the start of this season. This is my favorite theory so far. I was so impressed and intrigued by the theory that I'm about halfway through 'Shadowlands'. (A much neater theory than string theory, I have to say. Mirror matter is much more intuitive.)
At any rate, keep updating, please. I am curious to know how Daniel's experiments impact the theory.
Also, to push something others like Gishygoo have pointed out, I do think the soul is in play here. Perhaps a Gnostic/Manichean division of 'light' and 'dark'? It would go some way toward elucidating Charlie's words when he said "I AM dead. But I'm also here." Might only PART of Charlie died? Say, the 'right-handed' part?
WOW! What a theory. I just wonder if your theory is correct how that majority of viewers would feel about that. It just seems WAAAAAY too intense and intellectual. I think that would leave the "average" viewer feeling "LOST". Unless they can somehow explain your theory on a 5th grade level.
Now just a few questions......
1. Any ideas on how the entire plane wound up in the ocean? The television broadcasts showed the whole plane in there, not just a small section.
2. Are the scenes showing Farrady, CHarlote, etc. back on earth flash forwards or flashbacks?
3. How do you explain Locke's paralysis being cured once arriving on the island?
4. How in the world does Benjamin know EVERYTHING about the main characters lives before ever getting to the "island"?
5. If the television reports that Oceanic 815 was found in the Ocean in the South Pacific, doesn't that mean it was found on Earth and not some parallel universe?
6. How do you explain Desmond's psychic abilities to see the future?
7. Parralel universe, mirror moon or not, how do you explain the fact that so many people on the island had encounters with each other before the crash. Jack and Desmond, Des and Libby, Jack's dad and Sawyer, Jacks dad and Anna Lucia, Libby and Hurley, Sayid and the first guy in the hatch, etc. etc.
LOINRAK
J —
Thanks. My thoughts are along the same lines. Even if this is total BS, there are just so many perfect Easter eggs... Having them all in line with one concept is very appealing to me.
Bill W —
Thanks. Very clever! I like USE R FOOT. I guess FOUR TOED would be an anagram for DUE R FOOT. As in paying the homage due R Foot. Still, it seems the idea relies on the producers calling it FOUR TOES themselves. Do they? I don't know off-hand.
Anonymous —
Thanks. :)
Mark W. —
Thanks. The smoke explanation seems to be the most contentious or most exciting (depending) part of this.
Rodnei —
LOL. Yes. I wonder if people born on the island (regardless of the actual explanation of the show) are special, or perhaps even on Ben's nemesis' list. There seem to be the two forces. Where you are born might determine what side you're on.
Maybe there really is some global war going on. One side thinks people born on the island are "dark" or evil, and those from the island think the same of their enemies on Earth. "Two players... two sides..."
Anonymous —
Thanks. Great stuff!
That was in fact Jack's father in the chair in the cabin. He's dead though, and so it's undoubtedly his ghost or someone (Jacob?) taking his form.
It seems that that is Claire's baby. I'm expecting a scene where Jack is forced to choose between Claire and Aaron, or something similar.
The monster reflecting what is sees is a totally captivating idea. Although it's less appealing to me if it's a sentient cloud, a pretty decent case can be made that it's acting on and reflecting what it "sees" in people.
An island ecology that naturally inhibits population growth to maintain a sustainable system (in so many words) is a totally fascinating idea. Very cool!
gishygoo —
Thanks.
I think first and foremost, this is a character driven show — and, as you rightly point out, the theory is severely lacking in a description of the character stories. Help me out?
It's cool that Locke is in the process of replacing Ben... full circle...
The best I can do is try to guess at the broad strokes:
The central theme of the show is the light/dark dichotomy and how which is light and which is dark is a matter of which side you're on — a matter of perspective.
micaelea —
Thanks. My guess is they're flying into the thunderhead simply because they're trying to stay on the heading. But that could bearing could bring them to a magnetic pole (with its accompanying EM activity as suggested by the thundercloud).
Yeah, 3.2 is weird, isn't it? Miles did seem sincere to me though, so I'm not sure what to make of it.
J.B. Love —
Thanks :)
There's a large and very creative and engaging aspect of the story that I'm overlooking. The death of half of your soul idea that you raise sounds like it would be right up the writers alley.
I'm excited that you're reading the book. That might be the best part about Lost... getting people engaged. Perhaps you've noticed other inspiration for a sci-fi plot that I've left out? Descriptions of orbits, doppler effects, gamma ray bursts...
LOINRAK (?) —
Thanks. Yeah, I haven't tried to explain this on a fifth-grade level. But that IS what would be required. And I think it really would come down to JUST: there's this other, dark side of the universe, and on that side there's a little world with an island. That second part would strictly visual.
More importantly, we'd have the conclusion of the characters' stories. Any sci-fi would just be a back drop to help give a framework for intrepreting the "human-interest" side.
1 — The plane is mystery. But it does seem like a fake, or, perhaps, a mirror duplicate. I'd go for a fake, as a mirror duplicate makes everything wackier.
2 — To me, it seemed like they were all definitely flash-backs.
3 — I can't. Then again, there is no plausible explanation in the realm of reality that would seem to to work. So I think we have to appeal to the idea of higher destiny, shear luck, or luck plus the EM field that definitely seems to exist.
4 — Before ever getting to the island (?)
There's a scene where, just after the plane crash, Mikhail is gathering data on the passengers. I think it's just a matter of using their resources and connections. Once you have the plane's manifest, you'll know what to look for.
5 — It means wreckage was found. But that's it. Right? Clearly something is amiss with the wreckage... so I don't think it solves anything... rather, it makes the story much more complicated.
I think there's clearly some wackiness with physics involved. The island is invisible and separated SOMEHOW. (This mirror stuff would actually exist in the same universe. Sorry for confusing that issue.)
6 — The producers said it was a consequence of the release of all of the "bio-electric" energy when he turned the key. *Something* needed to happen, they suggested.
The basic problem is that Desmond's flashes are flat-out science fiction, so most explanations are on an equal footing regarding the flashes. In other words, nothing can explain them, so anything that sounds remotely plausible is probably good enough.
7 — Good question. There might be some force, kind of like destiny, that sort of pushed everyone together.
My real guess, though, is that the show is just more compelling when the chance encounters between the characters is high-lighted.
Cheers,
Mike
There's definitely something to what you've compiled, but I don't think it is the completely correct or at least it is only part of the story. I think that Flight 815 was copied. That's how one plane landed in the ocean and everyone died while the other crashed on the island. If you look up the Orchid Orientation video you'll see that Rabbit 15 is being held by the scientist and then another Rabbit 15 appears behind him and everyone freaks out. He also says, "Keep them away from each other!" The fact that Frank says that the pilot's ring is on the wrong finger also speaks to the idea that the "mirror" flight 815 came into this world and crashed into the ocean. I'm not completely sold on the idea of it being a moon. I see some things that might point that way, but it could just be a parallel universe or intersecting dimension of some sort.
d0m1n10n —
Thanks. Definitely. I would be quite shocked if this theory were accurate in many details.
What it is is just me trying (with some help) to work backward from the show to what solution might address the geographic and physical issues, as well as the Easter eggs. This is my best running guess... but it's only that, and, moreover, it's based on layers of inference.
The island is on an orbiting moon in the theory, despite inherent flaws, because that notion can address several questions:
* How Yemi's plane ended up on the island
* Why people sail in circles, but no one says there's some weird barrier or invisible wall
* Why day and night seem wacky, but only when people are walking across the island
* Why days seem a bit short in general
* Why a spot near central America appeared on Naomi's phone when it locked in a signal
* Why there was a brief Aurora in the online game near Bali
* Why the smoke monster changes shape and behavior, and only appears for a couple of minutes (so far) at a time
* A few other Easter eggs, like the producers (possibly completely sarcastic) comment about a moving island, the Apollo bars, the DJ Dan comment, and the possible impetus for Damon's essay revolving around a guy orbiting the earth.
(Not to belabor these. Just found it easy to type them out.)
I don't think Frank says the ring is on the wrong finger (just missing), but I'm nevertheless intrigued by the idea of a mirror duplicate.
Having said all that, it would be tough to convince me that mirror symmetry is not a central principle of the show's anatomy.
Cheers,
Mike
MikeNY... great stuff!
One thing that strikes me is that this explains (for me at least) the hatch painting. I think we can assume the black figure with the eye missing is jacob. However his right eye is missing in the picture. On the island, his left eye is missing. http://www.cs.iastate.edu/~andorfc/iowa_mural.html
I wonder if this fits in with your assessments of left and right in the LOST universe..
jcarlson34 —
Thanks. I love the breakdown of the mural on that site (yours?).
Great job picking up on the missing eye in the mural! I sadly never noticed it. It seems to tie in nicely with right/dark—left/light connection.
I'm a little confused about the circumstances where the right eye is missing... Could you clarify that?
Mike
Thanks for the reply Mike. I haven't seen anyone else mention the missing eye in the mural but that doesn't mean someone else hasn't also made note of it...
As for clarifying the right eye of jacob... when we see him look at Locke, we only see his left eye looking at us. Here is two links to screen shots http://www.lost-tv.co.uk/talk/viewtopic.php?p=29293 http://someotherlostscreens.blogspot.com/2007/05/jacobs-eye.html
Some people have surmised that Jacob does not have another eye. We never see it. The real life painter of the mural was given some of the mythology of the island so he could create the painting. Who else could the dark figure on the mural be but Jacob? The only thing that threw me off was the wrong eye was x-ed out... When I read your theory about left and right reversed, that made the mural make more sense to me at least...
jcarlson34 —
Thanks. Gotcha. Yes, Jacob is missing his left eye. In fact we've only seen the left side and/or left eye of all the "ghosts" in the cabin.
I think that might be a suggestion that Jacob is "projecting" from left-handed Earth. The giant foot is also the left foot, which would reference a real person on the left-handed side as well (just as the white shoe might).
As for the large figures... I've assumed they were Penny (light and on Earth) and Desmond (dark and on the island). The missing left eye to me would imply that he's "right-eyed" — the left, light eye would be missing (as in light eye in the photo of Locke at the bottom of the page).
Having said that, I see no reason why that couldn't be Jacob. :) Say he's the dark patriarch... Might the woman be a light matriarch? And, if so, who?
Thanks. Love the thoughts!
Mike
Mike, fantastic work. Not sure if this has been pointed out, I read quite a ton of comments but also skimmed alot. In Season 4 Episode 2 (I hope I'm right there) when the ROV footage is shown, and Daniel Faraday is shown at home, the female asks him "why he's so upset" and he responds "I don't know." Given the circumstances with his inability to remember cards with Charolette, I think Daniel might be losing his memory. Also, watch the ROV footage on the television very carefully. I think there is clearly a DHARMA crate on the ocean floor. It it close to the camera and not very hard to spot if you're looking for it. Anyways, awesome work keep it coming!
Here's an idea that I have, not really related to your theory, but still relevant. We know that Kate will NOT leave the island of her own accord. In an upcoming episode, I think Claire will be in danger (all of the group, in fact) and will give Kate the duty of caring for Aaron. Not sure how this will happen, but this seems to be the ONLY reason that Kate would leave the island (to keep Aaron safe.)
Something of note: Matthew Abaddon, the creepy as shit attorney, just got creepier. From Wikipedia: "...it comes to mean 'place of destruction' or the realm of the dead."
"...rendered in Greek as Apollyon; and he is described at the king of the locusts..."
"...one of the infernal names... and means 'the destroyer.'"
Pretty badass, IMO.
Very well thought out!
my head hurts now.
ha ha
the problem with this being true is that there are too many dumb viewers who would be completely LOST (pun intended) if this were true
Anonymous —
Thanks! If you can find a shot of that Dharma crate, please post it. I haven't seen the screenshot, so I'm very curious.
I think we'll find out why Dan's crying in Episode 5. The preview material suggests Desmond will have flashes of his future again and contact Daniel at Oxford. Perhaps Dan didn't believe Des and then had a breakdown when he realized he could have saved everyone had he only listened.
Anonymous (2) —
I buy it! Kate seems committed to Aaron, as if she's honor-bound. And, yeah, it seems she would have little other reason for leaving the island.
Anonymous (3) —
Yeah, Abaddon seems like a reference to a demon from the underworld, or even the devil. Creepy indeed!
Anonymous (4) —
You're welcome for the headache. ;) Thanks for reading.
Anonymous (5) —
For sure. I think this could be made relatively simple if they just cover points one and two in the third paragraph.
Lost simply isn't a simple show IMO. Those who watch it purely for the drama will no doubt be pleased regardless of the "hard" sci-fi that is undoubtedly behind it. Whatever the sci-fi explanation, it will be complicated in the nuts-and-bolts sense. Thankfully, the writers are gifted at taking something technically involved — like the Swan — and explaining it in a simplified and satisfying way.
I enjoy reveling in the minutia. Hence all of the detail. It's probably not the best form for "selling" the theory to fans far and wide — but that's not my aim.
Cheers,
Mike
Hey Mike
Interesting stuff you said about Penny and Desmond being the dark and light figures... will be cool to find out what it all means.
There is another image I think you should take a look at. I am not sure you have seen the Season 4 poster yet but check this out... http://abctvstore.seenon.com/img/product/catl/00039706-551571.jpg
It is the season 4 teaser poster and it clearly has buildings upside down in the water!!! This has to be the best official proof yet that the world is a mirror of some type like you have been suggesting. Also that would make Sawyer's comment in Season 1 "Outlaws" that much more interesting and important. Sawyer - "I take comfort knowing that someday this all going to be a real nice shopping complex. Maybe even an auto mall." Maybe in the real non-mirror world it already is a shopping complex!
Also, the helicopter light coming down from sky, the right side of the shinning light all the way to its point is on a perfect 325 degree angle (I drew a line in photoshop to confirm).
But then again, maybe I am reading into it too much lol...
How does The Constant fit with this theory?
Matt
Matt —
I don't know how/if it does. I haven't seen it yet :)
Hopefully, I'll get info that kills the theory or lets me make better guesses at the numbers in the model. The 23-hour day thing is more or less arbitrary, for example (though shorter days, even if slightly, seem to fit with the show).
The theory says the chopper can only exit after being zapped (or zapping itself) in an electrical storm. So I hope that actually happened.
The theory says (assuming the chopper doesn't time-shift on exit) that the time of day after the exit will probably be different. For example, if they pop out in the locations north of Fiji, they would appear only at roughly 10:55 am or 10:55 pm.
If you can fill me in, feel free... but I'm heading to bed and will probably watch the episode online tomorrow.
Cheers,
Mike
I am digging this theory and have been working on some stuff myself that is not as indepth as this but still with much of the same ideas. A nice little side note is that I read in a book about forgery that David HUME(Desmond's last name):
“Hume could write Latin with his right hand
While writing Greek with his left”
again the right/left thing as well being able to be in both worlds at once.
thanks for the great research!
can't wait to drop this on the Tribe.net Lost Tribe
jcarlson —
Thanks for the link to the poster. I've seen it before, but I never noticed the angle of the light beam :)
I think the fact that they're exploiting the mirror reflection says something that might be very relevant. Then again... it might be paying homage to the urban settings of many of the flash-forwards this season...
It's interesting either way...
Mike
Jean —
Thanks.
I wasn't aware of the left/right Hume connection. It's obscure, but very cool nevertheless!
Please drop off a link to your theory or thread if like. I'm sure people like me would love to read it.
Mike
Hello Mike, great work! I saw this site a couple weeks ago & have been pleased that the episodes since haven't killed your theory.
I thought you might find it quirky that two of the possible words one could make from the name of the helicopter pilot "Frank Lapidus" (though the remaining letters in both cases form mostly gibberish or far-fethced jokes) are "island" and... "lunar."
Have a good one!
Eric
Eric —
Thanks!
That's very cool about 'lunar' and 'island'. Damn extra letters... :)
Speaking of Lapidus... I'm going add a bit about Iapetus...
Mike
Mike-
You should listen to this past week's audio podcast, I'm curious how Damon and Carlton's answer to the specific location of the found polar bear in Tunisia being extremely important fits in with your theory.
hello Mike once again,
i still dont get the idea of the smoke, could u rephrase it for me in a more simple way. it just doesnt seem logical, why should it kill Mr Eko and the pilot....
thankx again
Rosy
Morgan —
I've long liked the idea that electromagnetic "hotspots" on Earth can act as portals to the island.
I suppose we'll learn that subjects zapped from the Orchid naturally wind up at these hotspots. They might be sort of "attractor" locations.
Throw in a theme of polarity inspired by the poles of an electric dipole, and you've got my fallback theory.
As for mirror matter... The more we learn that all entries and exits occur at locations that cannot fit with an orbit, the more the theory potentially loses explanatory power. (What would be the point of a moving island?)
For now, without much evidence, the other sites might be important insofar as they contain powerful EM fields like the island (though nothing approaching the one apparently encompassing the island).
Rosy —
Maybe the perspective from "our" side would help.
Suppose you're in a deep sea sub, 4 miles down, and, like usual, you're exploring the bizarre critters and hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor.
Then you see a ghost-like object that looks a bit like a plane. You check out what looks like the cockpit (the first place people look), and grab at a ghostly object that's moving inside. In short, the submersible operators would have been curious.
Suppose you're at the end of mine shaft and suddenly a ghostly, human-like thing appears in front of you. You freak out and attack it. Then you get out and tell everyone the mine is haunted.
Suppose you're a squid and see what might be prey (everything is ghostly that far underwater anyway). You move toward it and then hit a barrier, get stunned, and then swim away.
I hope that helps a little more.
Running into the smoke is somewhat random. Once it sees you, it gets curious or freaks out, depending on what it is.
Mike
I'm not sure if this has been mentioned before but...
As Sayid, Desmond and the pilot are traveling back to the frieghter...The pilot powers through the storm and as they get to the worst of it the helicopter turns downward and we see it (from the copter's POV) go directly toward the ocean. The shot then cuts to them safely flying (in relatively calm weather) toward the frieghter.
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW.
Patripal —
Thanks for catching that.
It gave me the impression that the chopper had to maintain an uncomfortably high altitude (2,000 ft, actually) while it left the left "island zone." As soon as they were out, Frank could drop a bit.
Natalie —
Thanks (I think) :)
Mike
One thing I wonder about which I may have missed an explanation for, is how this all may relate to the pregnancy/fraternity problem on the island. It seems, any child conceived on the island causes the mother to die (and maybe child as well?). Could this be that if the mother is of one world (ie left hand) but their child is conceived on the other world (ie right hand), these two bodies cannot exsist together (ie occupy the same space)? Just a random thought.
Hello Mike,
Much interesting what you published about Iapetus, for me the most intriguing celestial body of our solar system. Here is a link with several pictures and graphic analyses about this moon
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/images/images.cfm?subCategoryID=14
Rodnei
very kool lik eit all except the smoke monster part but very kool
Wow, very impressive! I just recently watched all of the seasons for the first time within the last month, and was beginning to think along the same lines as you...not nearly as in depth though! I'd have to say you have a very strong theory and it's supported very well. Just one question for you that I don't think has been brought up yet. What do you think of what Jacob said to Locke when Ben showed him the cabin? I don't remember exactly what he said...but I think it was something like "help me"...? Maybe?
Mikey,
Fantastic stuff and some serious work (get a life man!).
There's one aspect that is integral to the show and not covered by your theory i.e. the existing relationships between the characters...dono if anybody else raised this point earlier and you already came up with a theory...
Um.. ok. But somehow I dont think the smoke monster is dark matter reacting with the photons and blah blah blah..
How does darkmatter know.... Like you can't deny that the smoke thing knows who to get.. who to kill.. and when... Like when the smoke monster kills the freighter guys after they went all rampage on the losties.. and how it killed the pilot when he was about to reveal something important. To me it makes more sense that the smoke monster is an entity that lives in that "world" and it course-corrects people's destiny. Its fate, killing off the people that shouldve died but didnt, and that shouldnt mess up with the natural order of things. C'mon half of the show deals with all that scientific aspect, and the other half is like destiny/fate/miracles... MAN OF SCIENCE, MAN OF FAITH.
Other than that its a pretty cool theory.
great theory, but I think that it's more poetic than you say. I also believe that there is much significance in the characters of Jack and Locke. Have you noticed that the first episode opens with Jack's right eye as he awakes, but a couple of episodes in you see locke waking up after the crash and the camera pans out from his left eye..?
If the island is constantly moving and orbiting the earth, then where is the freightliner? Is it sitting off the coast of fiji? Are there are only certain times when you can move to and from the island onto the freightliner?
Also, why did it take about 45 minutes(I think) for Faraday's probe to reach the island from the freightliner?
I think your theory is the best I've read. These are just some questions that don't add up right now.
(I did not read through every comment to see if this has been posted yet - sorry if it has.)
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