In this post I will explain the monster/security system noise. I will also touch on the black wisps of smoke, the polar bear and some other stuff, so read on only if you can handle ***SPOILERS***.

In order to explain the monster/security system noise, lets go over the first hour of the Pilot episode. In the beach scene immediately following the flashback where the plane hits the heavy turbulence that will lead to its ultimate disintegration, Rose comments that the noise we refer to as "monster" noise was familiar. (She also says that she is from the Bronx, but the writers just threw that in to throw clue-seekers off-track.)

The reason Rose thought the noise was familiar is because she heard sounds just like them very recently. This is because the noises we hear when the monster/security system appears are the sounds of the plane's structure starting to stress (heard in the flashback mentioned earlier) and its impact with the island. Not only that, but the sounds of other craft which stranded on the Island can also be heard. Listen for the sound of a propeller plane's engine stalling. Maybe even the sound of Black Rock's beaching.

Bottom line, something is recording or mimicing these sounds. On a thread on the ABC board where I brought this theory up, someone submitted it could be tropical mimic birds from a zoo shipping boat which got stranded on the Island. The theory goes that when the monster/security system is in the active mode, the birds get stressed and start making these noises. Regardless of whether you buy into the mimic birds,* the stranded zoo boat angle does explain how the polar bear got on the island.

Maybe the black wisps of smoke are recording and replaying these noises. One poster on the ABC board believes the wisp can be seen very briefly in the plane flashback from the first hour of the Pilot. Look in the back of the front section when the camera angle switches to an aisle shot right after the plane hits turbulence. And remember to listen for a snippet of monster/security system noise as the plane's structure begins to stress.

In this post I will explain the monster/security system noise. I will also touch on the black wisps of smoke, the polar bear and some other stuff, so read on only if you can handle ***SPOILERS***.

In order to explain the monster/security system noise, lets go over the first hour of the Pilot episode. In the beach scene immediately following the flashback where the plane hits the heavy turbulence that will lead to its ultimate disintegration, Rose comments that the noise we refer to as "monster" noise was familiar. (She also says that she is from the Bronx, but the writers just threw that in to throw clue-seekers off-track.)

The reason Rose thought the noise was familiar is because she heard sounds just like them very recently. This is because the noises we hear when the monster/security system appears are the sounds of the plane's structure starting to stress (heard in the flashback mentioned earlier) and its impact with the island. Not only that, but the sounds of other craft which stranded on the Island can also be heard. Listen for the sound of a propeller plane's engine stalling. Maybe even the sound of Black Rock's beaching.

Bottom line, something is recording or mimicing these sounds. On a thread on the ABC board where I brought this theory up, someone submitted it could be tropical mimic birds from a zoo shipping boat which got stranded on the Island. The theory goes that when the monster/security system is in the active mode, the birds get stressed and start making these noises. Regardless of whether you buy into the mimic birds,* the stranded zoo boat angle does explain how the polar bear got on the island.

Maybe the black wisps of smoke are recording and replaying these noises. One poster on the ABC board believes the wisp can be seen very briefly in the plane flashback from the first hour of the Pilot. Look in the back of the front section when the camera angle switches to an aisle shot right after the plane hits turbulence. And remember to listen for a snippet of monster/security system noise as the plane's structure begins to stress.

In the finale episode, there is also clearly the rattling of a chain being "reeled in" as the security system-- if Danielle is to be believed that that is truly what it is-- is dragging Locke toward the hole. When I reviewed it again and freeze framed it, there is an obvious chain connected to Locke's right ankle.

One thing that seems to me that always needs to be kept in mind: not everything expressed by a character is necessarily true (there's a lot of deception and secret-keeping going on by nearly everyone); not everything that a character believes or asserts is necessarily a correct assumption on their part; not everything is a "has to be one thing or the other". That may work in pure logic, but everyone who considers the natural world alone knows that this assumption can be dangerous. Aristotle created this line of logic and Aristotle wasn't perfect.

What do you think?

I freeze framed Locke being dragged. What was dragging him looked to me like very dense smoke, no chain links apparent. How could Jack have withstood a chain on a winch pulling Locke?

Mr. Find, this is the best noises theory I have heard. Kudos to you! BTW the chain winching noise could have been copied from Danielle's science vessel.

Red

wow, good observations everyone! Yeah, I saw some screen caps of Locke being dragged, and some people even made the picture lighter. It was definately a chain. Great sound theory.. I will have to check my tape :D

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v225/HouseFly/chain1.jpg http://img261.echo.cx/img261/9195/chain0be.jpg

goes along with my find that the sounds of the beechcraft falling are those of the monster. as if they were cut and pasted

it may LOOK like a chain,
but to say that it DEFINETLY is a chain
is a little stretch

Just my 2 cents, I honestly thought it looked more like a whispy tentacle

To me it appears to be a chain either made of smoke or made to look like smoke by the creative team. I don't see a literal chain.

Nice theory. I think you are right about the variety and origin of sounds.

I think the island, whatever it is, gobbles up events and human experience and is able to manifest what it "reads" as new objects or experiences.

I love the theory, but how do you explain the sound of ice in a glass swirling when Jack sees his dad in White Rabbit? I think we need to go back and evaluate JJ's first few comments about the monster, where he says the monster is part of yourself, sort of an inner reflection. Like inner demons, but heing expressed outwardly. I am not sure why the island is able to do this, but it is becoming more apparent that this is what the monster is.


:devil:

I think we need to go back and evaluate JJ's first few comments about the monster, where he says the monster is part of yourself, sort of an inner reflection. Like inner demons, but heing expressed outwardly.* I am not sure why the island is able to do this, but it is becoming more apparent that this is what the monster is.

I think the island can somehow do this with memories as well. I don't think any of these characters ever really crossed paths. What we see in the flashbacks is the Island's perception of the past, and it happens to be combining/confusing elements from different stories, just like a person trying to remember a mostly forgotten story from childhood.

I love the theory, but how do you explain the sound of ice in a glass swirling when Jack sees his dad in White Rabbit? I think we need to go back and evaluate JJ's first few comments about the monster, where he says the monster is part of yourself, sort of an inner reflection. Like inner demons, but heing expressed outwardly.* I am not sure why the island is able to do this, but it is becoming more apparent that this is what the monster is.


:devil:

yes, totally!
and that can explain why the first time locke saw it he was in awe, and why the second time it grabbed HIS LEG and dragged him. much has changed since locke began to become questioned and tested in his faith!

Actually I think the monster was testing jack. Locke tells him to let him go. But as jack's dad has said he has a problem letting go.

Actually I think the monster was testing jack. Locke tells him to let him go. But as jack's dad has said he has a problem letting go.
yes at that moment, he was having trouble letting go, but i mean more of in, say, DEM, when Locke begins to question and loses his legs again.
here he was tested and physically could have gotten LOST by his leg

I love the theory, but how do you explain the sound of ice in a glass swirling when Jack sees his dad in White Rabbit? I think we need to go back and evaluate JJ's first few comments about the monster, where he says the monster is part of yourself, sort of an inner reflection. Like inner demons, but heing expressed outwardly.* I am not sure why the island is able to do this, but it is becoming more apparent that this is what the monster is.




Interesting. But*my impression, fed partially from what the producers have said in the past, is the show is of this physical world. Far-out*science like nanotech or holograms would fit in the parameters of possibilities, and may or may not provide explanations for some of the phenomena on the island. On the other hand that which is other worldly (ex: purgatory) or paranormal (ex: time travel) probably will not.

Going with that as my basis for interpreting the events on the island, I am thinking the island is just another benign land mass with no mystical forces occupying it or anything like that.

The sound of ice in a glass swirling when Jack sees his dad in White Rabbit could merely be part of the hallucination Jack was experiencing. Of course, it has never been really proven this was a hallucination. Maybe season two will provide a different explanation for Jack seeing his dad on the island.

One more thought on the monster/security system noise theory from earlier in this thread (POSSIBLE SPOILER FOLLOWS):

If the recording or mimicking theory proves true for the source of these noises it may also explain the whispers. Perhaps these whisper sounds are recordings or mimics of* actual conversations that occurred on the Island. Like of whispers from people who were hiding from something or somebody. Maybe some of these whispers are in French.

Interesting. But*my impression, fed partially from what the producers have said in the past, is the show is of this physical world. Far-out*science like nanotech or holograms would fit in the parameters of possibilities, and may or may not provide explanations for some of the phenomena on the island. On the other hand that which is other worldly (ex: purgatory) or paranormal (ex: time travel) probably will not.

Going with that as my basis for interpreting the events on the island, I am thinking the island is just another benign land mass with no mystical forces occupying it or anything like that.

I would like you to be right, but doubt that this is a real place more and more.

More musings on the monster:
I think not only the sounds of the monster, but its actions as well may be drawn from the characters' subconscious.* For instance, the pilot awakens still shaken by the events of the crash.* He ends up dead and half-clothed in the treetops, as if he had fallen from the sky.* The monster chases Locke, and these holes are popping up left and right.* Does this reflect Locke's obsession with the hatch?* We still don't know how Locke was paralyzed.* Perhaps it was in an industrial accident, and that explains the sound of chains being reeled in (chains attached to his legs, no less).

and why does every monster sequence begin and end with that fog horn like "WHOOOOOOOOOOOO!" sound? what the heck is that? I do think that the first night they heard sounds it did sound like metal ripping (the plane coming apart)

and why does every monster sequence begin and end with that fog horn like "WHOOOOOOOOOOOO!" sound? what the heck is that? I do think that the first night they heard sounds it did sound like metal ripping (the plane coming apart)


A foghorn? If there is a foghorn sound in the monster/security system's repertoire, maybe that's a hint that another boat -- one that got stranded on the island in a fog -- will be found on the island.

The little wisp of smoke Kate and Jack saw before the monster appeared in Exodus sounded just like Locke's adding machine in "Walkabout".

The noise can be heard almost every time it appears.

The chain winch noise is also heard in the Pilot episode when Charlie falls and gets tangled in the vines.

The little wisp of smoke Kate and Jack saw before the monster appeared in Exodus sounded just like Locke's adding machine in "Walkabout".

The noise can be heard almost every time it appears.

The chain winch noise is also heard in the Pilot episode when Charlie falls and gets tangled in the vines.
http://www.thefuselage.com/threaded/index.php?topic=19368.0

;D

Check this thread out.. has to do with the monster sounds in Season 2. The tail-end crash and monster is exact same sound. There's a clip played back to back on page 1 or 2.

http://thefuselage.com/Threaded/showthread.php?t=26372

Check this thread out.. has to do with the monster sounds in Season 2. The tail-end crash and monster is exact same sound. There's a clip played back to back on page 1 or 2.

http://thefuselage.com/Threaded/showthread.php?t=26372

Thanks for the link. Also go back to the Pilot, so you can listen for the monster/security system making noises that resemble a propeller plane stalling (the drug smuggler's plane) and a wooden ship creaking (the Black Rock).

You have all forgotten the core brilliant idea of the original post: that the monster is a mysteriously mobile and marauding wrecked zoo boat full of parrots doing their impressions of crashing planes and boats and whispering in multiple language while it emits black smoke (presumably from its smoke stack! It must be a diesel engine!) with the peculiar ability to tunnel around underground and grab things! Finally, someone on this board is making sense! And they think we're all nutjobs.

I can't wait until the big "parrot boat reveal"!

Addict, despite the fact that you're bashing the topic, when you word it like that; it certainly makes it seem completely unbelievable.

Why exactly then does the "monster" only seem to appear after or around rainfall? Is that a coincidence?

sw33t th30ry brutha

my bet: rain is part of dramatic licence, used to create atmosphere during crucial moments in episodes.

or: my basic theory is implanted memo / biodome / psychological experiment gone wrong (many variants of which are floating around) and if you're right about the rain then perhaps it is part of the technology of how the biodome operates.

or it could be that the parrots get thirsty and go a-rumblin' through the jungle.

Interesting theories, all.

You have all forgotten the core brilliant idea of the original post: that the monster is a mysteriously mobile and marauding wrecked zoo boat full of parrots doing their impressions of crashing planes and boats and whispering in multiple language while it emits black smoke (presumably from its smoke stack! It must be a diesel engine!) with the peculiar ability to tunnel around underground and grab things! Finally, someone on this board is making sense! And they think we're all nutjobs.

I can't wait until the big "parrot boat reveal"!

The original post was about the monster/security sounds being similar to those from the boats and planes that got marrooned on the Island. It did not propose that birds made it; the post merely said that someone on another board suggested it as the "player" of these sounds.

Truth be told, the "birds" angle on the recorded sounds theory is not supported by the original poster (myself). The post did however endorse the possibility that the zoo boat would have been the source for polar bears being on the Island -- I don't think that is far fetched.

The theory also mentioned about the possible appearance of the mysterious wisps of black smoke on the Oceanic 815 at the moment when the plane made those sounds of the steel under stress. This is a possibly very important angle I don't think should be discounted.

The proposed ability of the Island to record sounds (and who knows, maybe video as well, e.g. Walt appearing) may be related to the electromagnetic weirdness in the Swan hatch sector. What is triggering the play-back of the recordings?

One thing that seems to me that always needs to be kept in mind: not everything expressed by a character is necessarily true (there's a lot of deception and secret-keeping going on by nearly everyone); not everything that a character believes or asserts is necessarily a correct assumption on their part; not everything is a "has to be one thing or the other". That may work in pure logic, but everyone who considers the natural world alone knows that this assumption can be dangerous. Aristotle created this line of logic and Aristotle wasn't perfect.

What do you think?
"Aristotle created this line of logic and Aristotle wasn't perfect."
That made me grin.

I think that you're right. I try to remember to tell myself the same thing. There's even a name for it in literature: Unreliable narrator.
Not all of the memories may be "true" memories, either.
Just love reading the speculations. DON'T like the actual spoilers, but when it's just theories in fun, that's a blast.
Keep those theories/speculations coming!

The proposed ability of the Island to record sounds (and who knows, maybe video as well, e.g. Walt appearing) may be related to the electromagnetic weirdness in the Swan hatch sector. What is triggering the play-back of the recordings?

That is definitely the $108,000 question as far as this topic is concerned. And how does the black wisps perhaps play a part, if any, in the sounds -- and are they electromagnetic in nature?

The chain winch is actually a rollercoaster track noise. This was confirmed by the Lost creators in the magazine. I am thinking the monster is definately something mechanical or biomechanical and not really a 'Monster' at all.

If theories are Spoilers, then I guess this is one.
Alvar Hanso is deeply involved in Defense Weaponry (see the Hanso Foundation Website). There is probably more than one defense system on the Island. The "thing" that killed the Pilot, is not necessarily the same "thing" that dragged Locke.
The creators of the show have admitted that they were inspired, in part, by the movie "Aliens"... so my guess is that the thing that brought down the trees, and killed the pilot, and made all of that mechanical noise in the first episode was operated by a person, and looked exactly like the cargo lifter Ripley operated in Aliens. That cargo lifter would explain everything we saw in Episode 1. Why didn't the person kill Locke, when Locke ran into it in the jungle? Maybe because the person operating it saw the love and admiration for the machine in Locke's face, and knew Locke was not going to be trouble for the foundation. If anything, Locke probably begged that person to let him join the Foundation... and, who knows, maybe that person agreed to let Locke join the Foundation ... with conditions. And maybe that's the person Locke was talking to when he said, "I've done everything you asked me to do, why are you doing this to me?" when he was left alone to fix the computer... and maybe that's why Locke wasn't afraid when he was being dragged into the hole, by a totally different type of security system. He knew it was a machine and that a person from his Foundation was operating that machine too. Just guessing, of course.

....The creators of the show have admitted that they were inspired, in part, by the movie "Aliens"... so my guess is that the thing that brought down the trees, and killed the pilot, and made all of that mechanical noise in the first episode was operated by a person, and looked exactly like the cargo lifter Ripley operated in Aliens. That cargo lifter would explain everything we saw in Episode 1....

That is an interesting theory. I like it. I like my recorded sounds theory, too. I also like the mining theory I saw on this board once.

I don't like the memories or Island reading minds type theories. Not that the people who came up with them are wrong. It's just that as a viewer I would be really miffed if something not physically "real" was making the sounds, so I hope those theories don't turn out to be the actual explanation for the monster/security system sounds.

Just a thought about the chain. i seem to call a huge cable coming from the water. Perhaps to bring that in there is a winch. They could mimic that sound. Or even that might be the cable. I do think this is a great theory and this could definitely be what it is.

I think the island does play to each individual's fear as far as the monster goes.....

If the recording or mimicking theory proves true for the source of these noises it may also explain the whispers. Perhaps these whisper sounds are recordings or mimics of* actual conversations that occurred on the Island. Like of whispers from people who were hiding from something or somebody. Maybe some of these whispers are in French.

You might want to check out "The Whispers" thread in the Abandoned forum. There's much discussion about this very thing...but more towards the whispers being thoughts and not actual conversations. Penyours and rvturnage have done fabulous work transcribing whispers from recent episodes and are now doing earlier sets of whipsers. Lostlinks has also posted their transcriptions. I see in a more recent post that you're turning away from the mimicking thoughts theory. Read the transcriptions....you may change your mind !

You might want to check out "The Whispers" thread in the Abandoned forum. There's much discussion about this very thing...but more towards the whispers being thoughts and not actual conversations. Penyours and rvturnage have done fabulous work transcribing whispers from recent episodes and are now doing earlier sets of whipsers. Lostlinks has also posted their transcriptions. I see in a more recent post that you're turning away from the mimicking thoughts theory. Read the transcriptions....you may change your mind !

The problem I have with reading thoughts theories is the detrimental effect it would have on the Lost viewing experience if that turns out to be the explanation for some of the phenomena we have seen on the Island. If the parameters of what is reality in this show's universe includes thought reading then I loose interest in trying to analyze and speculate about this show.

What fun, or sense, is there in us asking questions like,"how did so-and-so know that so-and-so is...?", if anything can potentially be later revealed explained away as, "it turns out he is another character with psychic power" ? Once the show strips away basic rules of reality, it becomes sort of like a cartoon where an anvil can fall on you one moment, but then (because of some paranormal explanation) in the next scene you are fine without scratch. I hope the writers limit the psychic stuff to Walt, where it is frankly ambiguous whether he really has these powers anyway.

My impression of this show always has been that it could include cutting edge science but would steer mostly clear of paranormal events. As a viewer who loves this show and wants to continue to enjoy it for years to come, I hope that has been on money.

it may LOOK like a chain,
but to say that it DEFINETLY is a chain
is a little stretch Just my 2 cents, I honestly thought it looked more like a whispy tentacle

Several posts on the chain, just chose this one to quote....
I also freeze framed that scene and it looked to me like a wisp of smoke as well. But, I also saw that the actor Terry O'Quinn had a knee pad on his shin to protect it from the dragging. My point being, I don't know how much stock you can put in the freeze frames. There is all sorts of stuff in there that is used simply for production and never meant for the eye to catch. In fact, no one is supposed to see it at all.

I also freeze framed that scene and it looked to me like a wisp of smoke as well. But, I also saw that the actor Terry O'Quinn had a knee pad on his shin to protect it from the dragging. My point being, I don't know how much stock you can put in the freeze frames. There is all sorts of stuff in there that is used simply for production and never meant for the eye to catch. In fact, no one is supposed to see it at all.

Good point DangerKitty. Perhaps the crew needed something to base the cgi on, so they used a chain... not sure why they wouldn't have used a rope, which would've been more comfortable to Terry... perhaps it has something to do with computer graphics which I'm absolutely clueless about.

I've always wondered about that first monster 'sighting/hearing' in the pilot. The survivors heads were going back and forth listening to the "whoooo" sound and seeing the trees bending... Doesn't this suggest two parts to the 'monster'? They were definitely looking back and forth, and there was quite a distance between the two judging by how far their heads turned...

Also (I posted in another thread about this) there may be a motion detecting device associated with the monster as it seems that when they stand still (Locke in Walkabout, Locke and Hurley in Exodus) the monster doesn't chase. However when moving the monster gives chase.

Although...In the preview for Ep. 10 it seems that Eko doesn't move and yet the 'monster' still approaches.


Just wanted to add my two cents...