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Main Article Theories about
Capsule dump
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Regarding the large pile[]

Capsule dump

DHARMA did not plan to study the logbooks, but if something went wrong the logbooks would be collected and studied to ascertain what went wrong.


Regarding the positioning of the capsules[]

Notice in the location image provided that the capsules are not logically positioned based on the position of the pneumatic tube. If they were released from the tube, the highest point would be below the tube in a mountain shape. Various hills and valleys of capsule piles would not exist.

  1. The shape of the pile is simply an oversight on the part of the set designer or matte painter.
  2. The pneumatic tube dispenser moves around, which explains the various pile tops (though not likely due to the tube being fixed to a concrete pad in the ground).
  3. Someone or something ensures the capsules are moved over from the dispenser in a timely fashion.
  4. Weather conditions adjusted the shape of the capsule piles.
  5. The tubes come out with extreme force and bounce several times before coming to a rest, creating this modified bell curve pattern on the grass.
  6. The slope of the ground has avoided the formation of a big capsule pile just under the pneumatic tube.
  7. The capsules were moved by the "earthquake" that happened when Desmond was late entering the numbers (and also brought down Flight 815).
  8. The air pressure in the tube is inconsistent, so that tubes are shot out at varying velocities. Since the island seems to draw electric power geothermally, local changes in weather patterns/tectonic shift could affect how much power the motors receive - especially if they weren't constantly maintained.
  9. The Others or the leftovers of the DHARMA Initiative regularly read the notebooks and (sloppily) sort the capsules into piles, possibly based on which station they come from.

Miscellaneous[]

BlastDoorMap

The Blast Door Map

  • The dump is referred to on the Blast Door Map. "Why so many DharmaTel relays in such an untenable location?"
  • A possible explanation of the Pearl Station needing a storage area for all the capsules is that there is a storage area elsewhere on the island that sends empty capsules pneumatically to the Pearl.
  • Another explanation would be that the occupants of the Pearl (who don't actually live there) just bring a handful of containers each time they enter the hatch.
    • The Pearl was for 8 hours shifts, you can't fill more than one or 2 notebooks in 8 hours... They just had to bring one tube for their shift, send what they wrote before leaving, no need for storage of empty tubes.
      • Agree on the pick-up, but somewhere DI has to house 10,000 tubes. It is illogical. More likely, you have a small number of tubes that are regularly recycled. You only need six tubes per day - two for each 8 hr. shift. So, you probably only need 12 tubes altogether - six in use, six to be used. At the most you might keep twice the amount you need. Additionally, where does DI store 10,000 composition books? It is too ridiculous to be real. It must be a ruse.
Hiff2009-van
  • A DHARMA van would normally be parked under the pipe mouth to collect them and then bring them back to the Barracks for study (no DHARMA vans are available following the Purge).
    • They never collected them. No one worked at The Pearl in its designed fashion since The Purge. So the pile is from before The Purge. They just moved the tubes out of the way so the pile wouldn't block the chute. If something happened in a station, they just had to go and collect the tubes nearest to the chute, and would find out what happened. Seems they can't use their equipment to record the feeds.
OrientationSecurity
  • The Orientation video for the Pearl Station said that pressing the button was a psychological experiment that the people in the Pearl are supposed to monitor. This theory is proven false after the destruction of the Hatch, as the button was there for an important reason. Perhaps the psychological experiment was testing the people in the Pearl station; to see if they would continuously engage in a job as tedious as writing every action of the people pressing the button.
    • None of them were experiments. The Pearl was merely to monitor the other stations, to know what events lead to an incident, should one happen. Yes it has a camera, as there are everywhere, that does not mean it was more of an experiment. They had 8 hours shifts to take notes on what they see on monitors, hey, I had worse jobs!


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