Caveat: I haven't read all of the threads this season, so my apologies if this has been discussed in any detail elsewhere.

Faraday's rocket experiment in ep. 3 demonstrated that there is a time-shift of some sort that happens IN TRANSIT to/from the island. My understanding of what happened (and please correct me if I'm wrong) is that from the freighter perspective (and from the rocket's own perspective, if that makes sense), the flight of the rocket only lasted a very short time, one or two minutes - maybe five tops. I base this on the length of the initial phone call and how long one would expect a rocket's journey to take from a freighter (presumably some miles away) to the island. But rom the Island perspective (and Faraday's perspective), some longer period of time passed before the rocket arrived. I think it was 31 minutes differential between the two clocks that were supposed to be synchronized.

So what we "know" from this observation is this: something weird happens with time in the space between the island and the "outside world". We don't know whether there is a constant ratio (i.e. 1 minute of transit time to an outsider = 30 minutes to an islander), or really any specifics about how this works. Perhaps there is a "time-warp" bubble, like a layer of atmosphere, that covers the island. Perhaps it has holes in it; perhaps it is thicker in some places than others. There are lots of possibilities.

At any rate, this whole topic area has got me wondering about the one other thing (to my recollection) that has "dropped" on to the island during the series: the Dharma food pallet. At the time that incident occurred (and also later on, when we learned that the Dharma folks had been wiped out some significant time earlier in 'the purge') a very good question seemed to be "why did this food drop happen? Do the people doing the dropping not know that the folks on the island have been wiped out?"

Now, with the existence of a time-differential established, I'm wondering whether the pallet was dropped some length of time in the "past", and that perhaps, from island perspective, it took its sweet time in landing. Maybe it fell through a thicker swath of time-warp-atmosphere? Maybe the time-warp factor is not a constant? Perhaps if there had been synchronized time devices on the island and on the pallet, they would show that the pallet was in the air for like 20 minutes... but like 15 years went by on the island?

I've spent a lot of words on a pretty simple theory. Anyone care to weigh in? I'd love to hear other people's thoughts on this.

Hi all, lont time lurker, finally posting. Not sure if this is the right place or if it has been discussed in the past, but it occured to me during season 4.....

If Ben killed all the Dharma folks, I imagine Dharma at some point would know because they are no longer communicating with their people on the island, and they likely know Ben was behind it, since they are possibly looking to get Ben and looking to get back to the island. If the above is remotely true, then why would Dharma keep sending food shipments to the island????? Why would they care to keep Ben and the hostiles fed after they killed all their people?

Any thoughts?

Great question. I don't know the answer, but here are some additional thoughts to kick around.

What if the "purge" didn't kill all the Dharma people? For example, isn't it true that Inman was in the Hatch right up until the time 815 crashed? Wasn't it his death that caused Des to miss the 108 minute button?

Also, remember the huge pile of notebooks from the "?" station. Apparently, the person who was supposed to pickup the notebooks died before the person sending the notebooks.

Maybe "patchy" and Ben were trying to fool the outside world from the Flame for as long as possible.

And maybe, Dharma keeps sending the food to make Ben feel safe, as if they are still fooled.

Another question I have is, when exactly did the "purge" take place? Ben looks about the same age. How long does it take for those corpses to look like that? I think in one episode, when Ben was talking to Jack he says, "Not so long ago I made decision that took the lives of over 40 in one day" - What does "not so long ago" mean?

What if the food drops experience some sort of time lag like Daniel's rocket, only instead of a matter of minutes it has taken years to reach the island?

Hmm, all interesting theories.

I don't remember, but how many food drops have we seen?

Hmm, all interesting theories.

I don't remember, but how many food drops have we seen?
I think we've only actually seen one food drop (when Michael came back to camp in S2 right before he killed Libby and Ana-Lucia).

I am wondering if Locke blowing up The Flame station means they are no longer getting food drops: Locke cooked Ben 'the last two eggs' and Kate saw him with blood on his hands and he said he'd 'just killed a chicken'. Methinks food is thin on the ground in Othertown.

I think we've only actually seen one food drop (when Michael came back to camp in S2 right before he killed Libby and Ana-Lucia).

I am wondering if Locke blowing up The Flame station means they are no longer getting food drops: Locke cooked Ben 'the last two eggs' and Kate saw him with blood on his hands and he said he'd 'just killed a chicken'. Methinks food is thin on the ground in Othertown.

We've definitely only seen the 1 food drop (although that doesn't mean there hasn't been more that we haven't seen!).

I sort of assumed that the destruction of the Flame station also meant there would be no more Food Drops (but this is lost so who knows!)

I wonder if when the others left the barracks if they stashed all their supplys somewhere. If you're all leaving you wouldn't leave your fridge fully stocked would you?! maybe Locke just needs to look a little harder?!!

What if the food drops experience some sort of time lag like Daniel's rocket, only instead of a matter of minutes it has taken years to reach the island?

Yep - I'm thinking along those lines too.

DHARMA could have sent a load of drops into the EM bubble many years in the past and (if the theories about how you pass through the barrier are correct) timed them to come out at regular intervals on the Island, for years to come. Would solve the problem of having to resupply it over the decades.

Great question. I don't know the answer, but here are some additional thoughts to kick around.

What if the "purge" didn't kill all the Dharma people? For example, isn't it true that Inman was in the Hatch right up until the time 815 crashed? Wasn't it his death that caused Des to miss the 108 minute button?

Also, remember the huge pile of notebooks from the "?" station. Apparently, the person who was supposed to pickup the notebooks died before the person sending the notebooks.

Maybe "patchy" and Ben were trying to fool the outside world from the Flame for as long as possible.

And maybe, Dharma keeps sending the food to make Ben feel safe, as if they are still fooled.

Another question I have is, when exactly did the "purge" take place? Ben looks about the same age. How long does it take for those corpses to look like that? I think in one episode, when Ben was talking to Jack he says, "Not so long ago I made decision that took the lives of over 40 in one day" - What does "not so long ago" mean?

I don't think Dharma is aware off the island untill Locke "Enters 77" at the Flame Station. I believe they think everything is running fine until then.

The Dharma corpses are in an open grave. Their appearance may look older than they are because of direct exposure to the sun and rain etc...

I don't think Dharma is aware off the island untill Locke "Enters 77" at the Flame Station. I believe they think everything is running fine until then.

The Dharma corpses are in an open grave. Their appearance may look older than they are because of direct exposure to the sun and rain etc...
Yes, but Ben killed his father on the same day, and Roger's body wasn't doing too hot when it was found in Tricia Tanaka, despite having been safely ensconced in the van since having his last beer. I'm not saying it was 20 years prior, but I do believe it has been several years, given the wear on the skeleton.

In addition, Juliet's been on the island 3 years, and it's fairly plain to me that she has had no inkling of the purge happening in her tenure. By the time Juliet arrives on the island, Ben has assembled a new group, and has been 'hard at work' trying to find a cure for the fertility problem they've encountered. Therefore, my estimate is that the purge was at least 4 years ago, if not longer. I doubt Ben would've killed them all and immediately thought "I need to get a fertility doctor down here, stat."

Although, it is Ben. Stranger things have happened.

Mikhail is another surviving member of DI.

They kept ordering stuff to the island, and othersville used the drops.

What happened to the balloon drops? This might not be the best forum to post, but seeing the boat and Hanso at the auction made me think about them.

They're out in the middle of nowhere in the ocean, yet somehow, these balloons floated perfectly to the island. I know it's suppose to be Dharma, but why have the stopped? Where were the balloons launched from? How would an unmanned balloon travel so far to get there and not have its navigation system screwed by the electronmagnetic field and time change of the island?

What happened to the balloon drops? This might not be the best forum to post, but seeing the boat and Hanso at the auction made me think about them.

They're out in the middle of nowhere in the ocean, yet somehow, these balloons floated perfectly to the island. I know it's suppose to be Dharma, but why have the stopped? Where were the balloons launched from? How would an unmanned balloon travel so far to get there and not have its navigation system screwed by the electronmagnetic field and time change of the island?

I've been wondering about this myself. I mean, somebody out there must have known that *someone* was still pushing that button and that they had to eat. I think the reason they did not hear an airplane fly over has to do with the same reason Daniel's missile took so long to get to the island - however, I do not care to speculate any more on that, I love what's left of my brain and want to keep it!

However, WHO knew about the button? It was a DHARMA drop, but could it have been dropped by a third party? Hanso? Widmore? Maybe they know WHERE to drop the thing but for some reason couldn't APPROACH the island themselves. Then, when the hatch imploded, they decided to come check it out... maybe they are who funded the freighties.... Or, maybe DHARMA does still exist out on the real world (I have had the thought that perhaps Charlotte works for them)....

Good question, just no good answers.... yet.

Do we know for sure that the food drops have stopped? I imagine the food on one of those drops would be sufficient for one or two people (hatchies/button pushers) for a few months. Maybe they were not intended to feed 40+ people and enough time hasn't passed before the next one is due.

I think TPTB said they were tied with the Flame, and are stopped since Locke blew it up.

Yes, I remember this explanation also.

my question about the drops is, when Locke visited Ben in his house (season 3) In New Otherton, they seemed to be using suplies meant for the Swan. That always kinda bothered me. Why label something for place A, if place B is gonna use it? Does this tie in?

Do we know for sure that the food drops have stopped? I imagine the food on one of those drops would be sufficient for one or two people (hatchies/button pushers) for a few months. Maybe they were not intended to feed 40+ people and enough time hasn't passed before the next one is due.

Yeah, I think it isn't time for another Swan food drop since there were supposedly only two button pushers in the Swan.

I think TPTB said they were tied with the Flame, and are stopped since Locke blew it up.

Maybe the Flame, via Patchy, asked for the food drops for the Swan and Otherville. Something was sustaining all those Others and we did see Dharma food in Ben's house. Then again, maybe Ben and friends were sneaking into the Swan for snacks when Des and Kelvin were napping. :wink1:

And what about Claire's bird that she and Charlie tie the note to? When it leaves the island does it carry the note way off into the future? Or maybe the past?