Theory: Dharma Initiative Remote Viewers
The Smoke: Many believe that the “Smoke Cloud” which appears in the series is the monster that stalks the jungle. The sighting of the “Monster” in Exodus is very contradictory to what the teasers hint to what the monster is in season one. The moving trees, the explosions and the sounds that the hidden monster made, indicated that it would be huge. The Smoke appears to be exactly the opposite. It is small, fast (Capable of weaving in and out of trees at will), and unless you are very close to it (as indicated in 23rd psalm) is virtually silent. It is my belief that the monster that Rousseau refers to as the “Island’s Security System” has not been shown yet, and that the “Smoke” is in fact a spectral manifestation of a remote viewer. Our first glance of the Smoke was in the season finale last year, which was a DIRV following Jack and the group.
Anytime that some one sees the Smoke wisp by, they are actually seeing a remote viewer that is either passing by, or is watching them. Locke was the first to encounter this in the form of Walt’s spectral manifestation. When Michael returned to camp after being injured while on a boar hunt with Locke, Walt used his remote viewing ability to go into the jungle to see what Locke was doing. When Locke encountered what he first thought was the monster, he recognized that it was in fact Walt, and it was then that Locke realized what a special child Walt was.
Locke encountered Walt’s spectral manifestation again, in the season one finale, Exodus. Locke approached what he thought was Walt, but in reality faced the island’s security system. Walt sensing that Locke was in danger did the only thing that he could which was to carry (or pull rather) him to safety, and down into a hole. Another possible way to explain this encounter is that Walt had developed a close relationship to Locke, and may have even viewed him as a protector. While on the raft, Walt somehow may have sensed that the Others were coming and as an unconscious call for help, Walt reached out to Locke for help. Although I am sure that Locke’s first encounter was with Walt, it is possible that his second encounter could have been a DIRV who attempted to save Locke from the island security system, or to just take Locke to a near by DI facility. The ladder may not necessarily be the case based on the fact that if the DI wanted Locke, why haven’t they tried to abduct him afterwards? It may be possible that since Locke has taken it upon himself to make sure that the code is always entered that the DI has decided that he serves a better purpose staying with the other survivors.
Eko’s encounter which occurred in the 23rd Psalm, was with a DIRV. Upon seeing Eko, the DIRV called off the island security system, and went into get a reading on him. The images seen within the smoke during the encounter was the DIRV reading Eko’s mind to get an understanding as to what his intentions were. Once the DIRV realized that Eko was not a threat, it backed away, and allowed Eko to continue with his personal quest.
The Whispers: The whispers heard in the jungle on the island are actually, two or more DIRVs communicating with each other. Depending on the situation, the whispers can be simple conversations, arguments between the viewers, warnings, and in the case of Ana-Lucia in The Other 48 Days, them urging the survivors to do something.
The Numbers: I was watching a documentary on the National Geographic Channel about secret cold war government programs. One of the things covered in this documentary was the United State’s Remote Viewing program (Created solely because the Russian had started one). In this documentary, the psychics could remote view anyone and anywhere, but they were more effective if they were given something to home in on. To increase their efficiency, a random series of numbers are assigned to whatever object or place the person is trying to view. The psychic focuses on this number, and uses it to home in on the target. It was after this show that I first started formulating the basis to some of the points in this theory.
The number 4 8 15 16 23 42 was assigned to, and engraved on the hatch to enable the Dharma Initiative Remote Viewers (DIRV) to observe what was happening in Station 3. The number was further transmitted from the antenna near the Black Rock (where Rousseau later changed the message to her distress call) to aid DIRVs on the mainland to look in on the progress on the island. The reason the numbers appear to be cursed is because every time someone uses the numbers, it causes the DIRV to be redirected from what they are really targeting (Station 3). To prevent this, every time the unauthorized use of the numbers occurs, the DIRV use their psychic abilities to manipulate the surroundings and events around the user to discourage them from using the numbers again.
The numbers on the vials of, what we find out in Maternity Leave to be vaccine could be a way for the DIRVs to keep track of the vials. Notice that the numbers, are not arranged in the same way as they are entered into the computer.
Screen cap of the vials in Man of Science, Man of Faith
Screen cap of the vials in Maternity Leave
The numbers on the vials are 4-81516-23 42. This subtle difference enables the DIRVs to differentiate between the numbers on the Station 3 hatch, and the vials. If the sickness is as serious as Rousseau says, then it would be very important for the DI to keep track of every vial of vaccine. The numbers on the vials enable the DIRVs to track down every vial, even in the event that one is some how smuggled off of the island.
4 8 15 16 23 42 being the winning lottery numbers was actually a coincidence, Hurly using the numbers on his lottery ticket was not a major disruption to the DIRVs, but it was when Hurly won with the numbers that it started disrupt them. Since he won the lottery with the numbers, everything that he acquires using the money that he won is now linked to the numbers. As long as Hurly retains or spends his wealth, he is essentially using the numbers. Another factor that disrupted the DIRVs was the media coverage of Hurly. The coverage of Hurly winning the lottery was so huge that, as shown in House of the Raising Sun, it was even broadcasted in Korea. The numbers were now being broadcasted all over the world. This no doubt wreaked havoc on the DIRVs trying to home in on the island.
Realizing that there was no way to stop Hurly from interfering, the DIRV manipulated events around Hurly so that he would be on a flight, along with other people chosen by the DI for various reasons, departing Sidney that they have set up to crash on the island. Now that Hurly is on the island, the remote viewing interference that he was causing before is greatly reduced.
The Sickness At the moment, the only mention of the sickness was made by Rousseau, and then later it was alluded to by Ethan in Maternity Leave. The strange thing is that it has yet to manifest in any of the survivors. The first inclination of any sort of sickness among the survivors was when Claire’s baby got sick. However, by the end of the episode, whatever the baby had cleared up, and nothing conclusive was revealed about the sickness that Rousseau is so freaked out about. It is obvious that since Ethan mentioned it to Claire, and that the Others have a vaccine (if that is what is in the vials) for it, the sickness must be real. Still, it is strange that after living on the island for almost two months that none of the survivors have contracted it while Rousseau’s crew got it after living on the island for about the same amount of time. It was this thinking that lead me to think what could Claire’s baby and Rousseau’s crew have in common, and why did Rousseau’s crew get sick, but she didn’t? This is what I have come up with.
The sickness is not a virus, or a pathogen, but is a side effect to prolonged exposure to the electromagnetic anomalies on the island upon the brain. A normal person would usually not be vulnerable to this phenomenon. However, due to their heightened brain activity, those with some sort of psychic ability (no matter how undeveloped) are. If untreated, the electromagnetism on the island will elevate activity in the brain to the point where it would cause them to go mad. If my theory is correct, and the children were taken for their psychic abilities, then one of the main reasons that they are taken is that they have to be injected with the vaccine to prevent them from succumbing to the sickness. Children, with their still developing bodies may also be particularly susceptible to the sickness which would explain why the Others are so adamant about getting Claire’s baby, and why Ethan was injecting her with the vaccine in Maternity Leave.
I’m not sure if the vaccine is something that only has to be administered a few times, and then you are immune, or if it is like diabetes shots where you have to take them all the time. The fact that Desmond takes the vaccine all the time could indicate that it has to be taken every few hours. It would make sense if it were an all the time thing. This way, the DI would have a way of controlling the DIRVs As long as they are the only source of the vaccine on the island, then the DIRVs have no choice but to work for them. If it turns out that the vaccine does not have to be taken all the time, then perhaps Desmond has to take it all the time because of his proximity to electromagnetic anomaly in the hatch. When Kelvin found Desmond, he quickly realized that he had an innate psychic ability, so he gave Desmond the vaccine to prevent him from going mad.
The reason that sickness may have affected Rousseau’s crew and not the survivors of flight 815 or Rousseau herself is that they all may have had innate psychic abilities where as Rousseau and the survivors did not. Another reason why Rousseau’s crew may have succumbed to the sickness was their frequent trips to the Black Rock. There may be another major electromagnetic anomaly near the Black Rock, and constantly traveling to and from the Black Rock may have heightened their exposure, thus making them sick.
Another factor that may explain the sickness is, what if Rousseau and her team arrived on the island around the same time of the Incident. Then it might explain how Rousseau’s team got sick while none of the 815 survivors have yet to have gotten it.
Picture taken from EW Article without over laid translations.
Picture with translation overlay.
Based on the black light map, the incident occurred in 1985. If Rousseau and her team landed on the island in 1985, and Sayid said that her message had been transmitting for 16 years, then that would place the year of the crash in 2001-2002 which, given the information, is well within the timeline of the show. Perhaps, there was some sort of residual radiation or gas in the atmosphere that has since dissipated. There are notes on the black light map referring to a sickness, “Aegrescit Medendo” which translates to “the disease worsens with treatment. The remedy is worse than the disease”.
Picture taken from EW Article without over laid translations.
Picture with translation overlay.
It could be possible that the DI was working on some sort of biological agent in the Staff hatch that was released by accident during the Incident. If in fact the “Incident” is related to EM research, then I believe that the sickness may have first manifested among the DIRVs. The sudden explosion of EM energy no doubt had a profound effect on the brains of the DIRVs and it took the DI a lot of trial and error to find a vaccine.
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