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South pole theory[]

I say we delete the South pole theory, as it contains false information. If the island were "near the South Pole", there would still be only one north. The island would have to be located directly on the south pole, in order for every direction to be north. Either the theory should be changed (with rationale given for the climate, etc.) or deleted. --Cmpieper 10:12, 15 May 2007 (PDT)

Local time theory[]

Also seems incomplete at best. Even if the local time is given as 4:16, there has to be a another known equivalent time from another zone in order to attempt to determine the time zone of the island. Is there a comparable time? If not, this theory should be deleted.--Cmpieper 10:17, 15 May 2007 (PDT)

Theories moved from the main article[]

  • Most complex electronic devices, and other mechanical devices fail, like the satellite phone and the helicopter. It may have something to do with the monster, or even the others, or the islands electromagnitism. Also, if electronics fail on this island, how does the swan computer, Juilet's CD player, the DHARMA van, electricity in general, continue to function? (written as a question)
  • The Island is actually enclosed within a large dome several miles underground. All environmental conditions (such as the weather) and "natural" happenings on the island are actually simulated. The firmament is a holographic image, above which is a roof (perhaps underneath the sea) which might have opened up, allowing the plane through. (no show-related evidence given)
  • This would explain some of the magnetic disparities on the island (why magnetic north is so far from true north). The blast door map notations reference weather control, which would explain the apparent tropical nature of the island, even if it is close to the south pole. Despite the fact that polar bears are strictly limited to the north pole, they could have been transported to the south pole and then the "extreme climate change" noted on the blast door wouldn't refer to moving the bears to a warmer climate, but actually changing the climate of the island. (response to another theory; stated as a possiblity)
  • Naomi states that the wreckage of flight 815 was found in an ocean trench near Bali. This is approximately 6000 miles off course on the Northwest side of Australia. (not related to the location of the island, but of the plane's wreckage; not a theory but a statement of fact)
  • The only use of the Island is for the DHARMA Initiative's purposes. (no evidence cited)
  • The sulphuric smell of the shower water is not caused by a volcano. Water that sits in a water heater for a long time will acquire a sulphurous smell. (response to another theory)
  • The Island is Sentient somehow. (no evidence cited)
  • The Island represents the afterlife. (no evidence cited)
  • The Island is Avalon. One anagram of "Alvar Hanso" is "Avalon Shoar." Shoar could be an archaic spelling of "shore" (coast, beach, etc.) or, in its original usage, meaning a support or something that holds something else (i.e. "to shore something up"). Other possible references to Arthurian legend: Avalon is where Arthur returned to heal his wounds. It is considered his final resting place, as The Island has been called Magnus Hanso's final resting place. (incorrect--the anagram would have to be Avalon Shaar)

Unanswered question removed from theory page[]

Why is the weather on the Island always the same? Even when Desmond created the lightning rod, the weather was fine. (answered)

The weather is not always the same. It has rained on several episodes and has been cloudy and gloomy on others. --Cmpieper 12:11, 15 May 2007 (PDT)

Answers offered to this "unanswered" question on the theory page[]

  • Most likely because time does not exist in a traditional linear sense on the island. You could compare the island to Peter Pan's Neverland where time doesn't pass in the usual sense... which is why the Lost Boys did not age and the seasons never changed. Additionally, this explains why Rose is still alive.
  • Continuing this train of thought even farther, this "Neverland" theory would also explain why people on the island keep seeing what they can imagine (such as Kate's horse) or are given what they desire most (such as Locke's ability to walk or Jin's desire for Sun's pregnancy). In Neverland, there are no limits to the experiences that a child can encounter. This is more of a metaphorical reference to the limitless imagination of a child's mind rather than any kind of physical boundary.

Magnetic Fields and photography.[]

"The Island Is hidden from radar/satellite photography by a magnetic field..." Does anyone care to explain how exactly, a magnetic field could affect satellite photography? A magnetic field isn't a medium in which light bends when it travels through as it does in water, so how is this a valid theory? Its vague to me in a sense that it doesn't specify how the magnetic field affects satellite ability to capture images. Argon 22:17, 1 June 2007 (PDT)

  • Simply, as you have implied, it can't. Photons are uncharged particles and so they are not deflected by a magnetic field. Woowoo1111 14:57, February 26, 2010 (UTC)

Moved from theory page on 9/6/08[]

  • The Island is located some where in the North Pole/Arctic area. The Island exists in some sort of "alternate time" or "alternate reality". Refer to the book The Smokey God and/or the manuscript "Admiral Byrd's Secret Diary" (his trips were to the South Pole, but some theorists say he was also secretly sent on a mission to the North Pole) and/or "the Hollow Earth Theory, and/or Paradise Found: The Cradle of the Human Race at the North Pole (1885), written by the founder of Boston University, Dr. William Fairfield Warren. These pseudo-science books make reference to a tropical land (or in the least, a warmer climate) hidden in the Artic. The writers of Lost have used these ideas to create the location of the Island. The writers have also incorporated another pseudo-scientific concept called The Vile Vortices. The Vile Vortices have been described as "portals." The Bermuda Triangle is considered as one of these portals. From the Island, different bearings would take you off of the Island from "zero" north to different Vile Vortice openings. That's how the Black Rock, Danielle's team, Flight 815, Eko's brother's plane, Desmond and his boat, Henry Gale and his balloon and others have ended up on the Island, through these vortices. That is also how the polar bear was transported from the Island to the location where it was found in North Africa. Also the hypothetical concept of Ley Lines may figure into the mythology of the Island's location. The only direct way to access the Island is going under the Arctic ice cap in a submarine, guided by a beacon from the Looking Glass, if you know the correct route. When you emerge from under the ice cap, you have entered this "lost" area, which is tropical in nature and somehow protected from the frozen environment around it. How the Island is invisible to the "outside" world is not readily explained in these books nor have the writers of Lost given us their "take" on this point (as of this posting). But numerous clues have been given to us by the writers of the series. Polars bears, references to "ho ho ho," Hurley drawing a picture of an igloo, the comic book with Arctic scenes that Walt was reading. Sam seeing the aurora borealis (even though he was in the Pacific) in Find 815, Penny's listening station was located in a snowy waste land, Desmond's fictitious basic training camp named "Camp Millar" in Scotland matches an actual base on an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean which is owned by Norway, named Camp Millar, and has been used as the stepping-off point of many Arctic expeditions, The Swan password is the joke about what one snowman says to the other and Desmond's reference to a snow globe .
    • That would not explain how you can wear T-Shirts and grow tropical fruits on such island. The light would be different too, including a uncommon northern day/night cycle like in skandinavia.
      • Yes it would. Read my update in the leading paragraph above where I better explain the "Hollow Earth" pseudo-scientific concept of a lost land in the Arctic.
        • That doesn't explain why they would be experiencing 24-hour day/night cycles. If they were anywhere near the Antarctic in late December (current Island time), it would not be getting dark at night. If they were near the Arctic, it'd be dark all day. None of the "polar" theories here hold up to this basic fact of astronomy.
          • My theory was in regards to the Island’s location, not to environmental issues. But to surmise a guess, I would say that the Island has a manufactured environment. Faraday (I believe) mentioned that light appeared to “scatter” strangely, compasses do not work correctly, rain seems to start up very suddenly with no indication of an approaching storm, there seems to be some sort of a perpetual weather front surrounding the Island, the unusual rising tide (Sayid says... "This can't be normal. The tide shifting so suddenly. Rising in so short a time.") and with a little research, I probably could find a lot more examples. Considering all of the other strange events on the Island, it is possible that we could consider the Island to be a totally controlled laboratory in itself.
            • Addendum to my "North Pole" location above. Some other northern location clues. The Big Dipper could be seen in the episode "The Long Con" when Sayid and Hurley are using the radio to pick up a WXO radio station. On the Letyourcompassguideyou.com website (part of The Lost Experience), there is a postcard of an island beach with a snowman.
              • Additional addendum to my "North Pole" location above. In the "Constant" episode, you can see snowflakes hitting the window of the helicopter while they are navigating through the storm front (thanks to a observant user comment on The Fuselage). And in the episode "The Shape of Things to Come," in a flash forward, Ben has left the Island and "appeared" in a desert in North Africa wearing a parka. This is not only another Arctic location clue, it may also indicate that sometime in the future (in the story), something has gone wrong and the Arctic environment has started to take over the Island's tropical conditions.

What the island wants[]

A few articles in this wiki have touched on the designs of the island but so far I've seen this topic moved off theory pages. I'm new to this wiki so I might be missing some back story as to why this is.

It seems to me that either the island as an entity has an agenda and the powers to carry it out, or Jacob does. Powers such as causing visions, causing illness, healing illness, not letting people kill themselves that seem to be working toward a particular goal.

Am I missing something or why isn't there more discussion about what the island wants? Hmundahl 17:54, 30 June 2008 (PDT)

I don't think you're missing anything. Let's try this.

"Millions for defense, but not one cent for tribute." Attributed to more than one Government official in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the term had to do with payments to the Barbary Pirates. In the case of the Island, it refers a living, peaceful entity that wants to be left alone with its inhabitants. To ensure success, it maintains a defense structure.

The outer ring of the structure is composed of secrecy and a support organization (Mittelos). The inner defense is its people, who fight when they have to.

To control everything, the Island exercises power to control it's population and maintain its secrecy. Its powers, which may seem miraculous or magical, are more surely based on a technology that we do not understand.

If the Island thinks it is being threatened, it strikes.

--Jim in Georgia Contribs Talk 18:21, 30 June 2008 (PDT)

Indeed the island has both a defensive structure as well as certain powers. But what are it's aims? What constitutes success? It seems to me an almost tragic situation: here is an island of fantastic powers, yet it can only take action through weak and fragile humans.

Here is a case where the island took very deliberate action and a proposed theory as to why: The island doesn't seem to have allowed Michael to kill himself (Meet Kevin Johnson). On the freighter Michael devises a way to stop the bomb from going off right away. What is the result of this action? Desmond, Sun and Aaron are able to get on the helicopter and thus escape. Once this has been accomplished Christian Shepard (aka Jacob, aka the island) tells Michael he is done. What is the purpose of this action? The island thinks it needs Desmond, Sun and/or Aaron for some purpose of it's own.

Perhaps if we can find more of these direct actions and guess as to their purpose we can build an overall picture of what the island is trying to do? Hmundahl 18:50, 1 July 2008 (PDT)

Okay. I started a page, The Island's motives, and referenced it near the top of the main page. Let's see who contributes, complains, or yawns<grin>--Jim in Georgia Contribs Talk 11:07, 2 July 2008 (PDT)

Nice, I'll move some of this there and see what shakes out. Hmundahl 18:56, 7 July 2008 (PDT)

The Island=Atlantis?[]

A really rough theory I thought up:

Around the island, there are some mysterious ruined laying around, including pillars, statue remains, and a 'temple' that was possibly on the island before the Dharma Initiative. Ideas:

1. It is the original site of Atlantis, which has mysterious powers

2. It is some other ancient civilization

Either way, the civilization has supernatural abilities and knows the power of how to bend time and space, move the island, and has healing properties. The civilization soon collapsed, prossibly a natural disaster (hence the Atlantis legend), but there is also a chance that there is a large conflict, leaving a handful of survivors. They constantly move the island in order to protect themselves from forces unknown. Years later, the island suddenly moved right at the location of the Black Rock, leaving it stranded on the middle of the island. The crew members of the ship lived with the island inhabitants and taught them english. The bodies of 'Adam and Eve' found by Jack and Kate in the caves are probably a female and male from the Black Rock and the Island who wed, and buried.

Many years later, someone found the island, and the Dharma Initiative was formed. They lived on the island, but the original inhabitants were not able to coexist and a conflict ensured. Soon, the 'others' killed off the Dharma Initiative. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Dharma22 (talkcontribs) 2008-08-25T04:58:17.

  • Its honestly hard to say if it is Atlantis or not. One thing is for sure, al the ruins and such are the products of the island transversing through time. When things move in time, it just doesnt go from point A to point B. It literally has to travel in between those points. Therefore, picking things up while moving, is a huge possibility. Also, when one arrives at Point B, there is always the possibility the island ends up in a occupied zone, therefore, merging the two together. This is probably the reason behind why the four toe foot was found on the island. Same goes with the Black Rock, and possibly others that haven't been seen yet. --Kadjisansig01Kadjisansig02Kadjisansig03 03:42, 25 August 2008 (PDT)

Ley Lines[]

Ley lines are theoretical alignments between points of geographical interest, often marked by monuments or megaliths. The theory basically states that these points are focal points emanating large amount of energy (electromagnetic, psychic, mystic, and so forth), and that the lines serve as conduits between these points. Could the island, a hotspot for electromagnetic or other exotic energies, be connected to other hotspots around the globe, such as Tunisia or the site of the Lamp Post station via Ley Lines? Traversing a ley line could explain how someone can travel from the Orchid to Tunisia, and how a Foucault's Pendulum can locate the position of the island at certain points in the space-time continuum (when the moving island crosses a ley line, perhaps?) —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Tyran80 (talkcontribs) 2009-02-27T11:42:05.

The Island is an Artifact of an Advanced Ancient Culture that was Destroyed by the Rise of Sea Levels[]

What can I say, WOW!

This is really really really nice theory, and one worthy of more development AND one which deserves more exploration. Societies in pre-history had a real thing about preserving the dead, keeping dead people's memories alive etc. These rituals and reverencers could all be cultural memories that once, long ago, we were able to do just that: keep people alive after they died by downloading their memories, and use a computer to recreate holographic images, and basically so that they would be preserved for posterity.

In this way, you could explain all of pre-and recorded history's preoccupation with ancestor-worshipping and mummification rituals . You could also explain ghosts, 'voices from the grave etc. The island's purpose may simply have been to enhence an already-existing human facility, one that has long-atrophied, but vestiges remain, in "special" people like Hurley & Miles. The island's special properties are also responsible for the voices that are heard. These are all the dead people's memories floating around the island.

You can also see why such a place would need a "protector", and why it would need a security system. A protector is there to protect the memories of the dead, to keep them safe, to "save" (i.e. keep for posterity) us all; it would also need a security system (guardian), to make sure these memories did not escape, that the outside world did not destroy them or let them loose back again into the world. One person is an archivist, a cataloguer, a nerd. The other is a guard, a bouncer, and a Rambo figure.

It might even be that with enough dead people, (e.g. a load of people killed in Dharma times!) you can bring back the entire time period when they existed. So much so that it could look real; you might even be so fooled by this that you could live in it for years and not notice they were holograms.

Richard might be dead, and a hologram. That's why he doesn't age.

However, before I get completely carried away, just what would be the explanation of the following:

  1. The wheel, and sending people like Locke & Ben to Tunisia
  2. The discrepancies in time, noted by Faraday; people arriving dead before' they were killed?
  3. AND, the biggie: what the £$#% has this to do with an alternate timeline?

Id love to discuss this further, and see if we can get some answers.--Sean Sheep 09:49, February 26, 2010 (UTC)

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