Don't know if this has been posted or discussed already.

But watching the ep again last night I realised that when Ben went into his secret room with the ancient door, it was, I'm guessing early morning since Claire was still sleeping when Sawyer went to get her.

While Ben was gone Sawyer said "He just left us here" - of course he'd think that if they had to wait hours for him to come back.

That also means Claire spent most of the day asleep, which is a lot more plausible than her waking up 10 mins or so after she survived the explosion (and also why she didn't wake up when Alex was shot).

When Ben returned, all messed up and dirty, it was nighttime.

I kinda believe the time travelling in this ep happened while he was in that secret room (as in that's the portal or something) and he was aiming to end up in one place (the parka) but ended up in the desert for some reason.

Anyway, just a few theories Im throwing around right now :rolleyes:

Just before Ben goes into the room, Locke says it'll be dark in about 20 minutes. So that's how long he was gone.

I don't think any time travel occurred at that time, though.

Ben's secret room had a secret room.
Pure awesomeness.

Ya, he was just in there for a bit. If he was time travelling he could have easily came back out just after he entered. I think he was rolling around in some instant smoke monster dust.

Ya, he was just in there for a bit. If he was time travelling he could have easily came back out just after he entered. I think he was rolling around in some instant smoke monster dust.

You're assuming there is some way to "time travel" that doesn't involve being on the island. I'm not willing to make that assumption. I think he was only down there about 20 minutes.