Like one
Who having into truth, by telling of it,
Made such a sinner of his memory,
To credit his own lie..
The Tempest. Act i. Sc. 2

Political Intrigue:

Imperial Legacies

Theory on French distress call


What if... The French didn't actually crash onto the island, but they were there on purpose? They could have used the location to experiment with weapons, etc (because there is French territory relatively near the Fiji area). And they could have been using animals, such as the polar bear, for experiments (maybe to allow them to adapt and be able to live in different habitats). One of the experiments could have gone wrong, creating a "monster" animal that killed the French scientists... resulting in the distress call. Yeah?
------------------------------------------------------------------------


No one agrees?

dispensable

Re: Theory on French distress call


Maybe. But this theory isn't original, and has come up in other topics. No offense, either. I thought of it too, but this idea has been way overdone in both TV and Movies.


very lost indeed

Re: Theory on French distress call


Well, I hadn't read it anywhere else on the site, nor did I get it from another source. I thought it could be possile - with the French territory nearby and all. It makes sense.


dispensable

Re: Theory on French distress call



There has to be a base or something on the island with a power source because the message has been playing so long. No way batteries last that long plus it has to be weather proof to keep the radio from getting wet.


If you are right then perhaps the plane was shot or brought down by some defensive system the French put on the island.


Also perhaps they used some technology to hide the island from the outside world.


Bungarian

Re: French Comments and some other cool sh!t


A quick Google Spelunkering turns up the following factoids:


1. French Polynesia (the likely geographical location) is approximately 1000 miles N.E. of New Zealand.


2. The French shifted their nuclear research from the Sahara to that location in 1966 (and continued research into the late 1980's).


3. I couldn't find anything "Atlantislike" or "Bermuda Trianglish" in French Polynesia, other than a strange dissapearance of a basketball star and entourage on a yacht in 2002, and Easter Island (which is a little too far away to figure into this imo).


4. While a little sci fi, I think JJ will keep the plot grounded mostly in logic and believable psuedo science. While I agree that there have been a number of sublte religious overtones, I am sensing that the plot won't delve too deep into biblical mythos.


5. Pitcairn Island and Marquesas mark the perimeter of French Polynesia. You will remember Pitcairn as the paradise inhabited by the mutineers from "Mutiny on the Bounty," an actual event.


Prediction: Even though interview suggest that other groups have been "lost" on the island, perhaps French nuclear testing created some sort of vortex or abomination which exacerbated the "lost-causing force", perhaps blasting a hole in the space/time continuum or a creating an atmospheric Bermuda triangle type thing which messes up weather patterns. It also seems that the intended recipient of the distress call "knew" about the existence of the "thing," which was perhaps created (intentionally or not) through some sort of genetic mutation caused by the radiation or by some experiment gone awry. (King Kong? Godzilla? Enoch? Al Franken?)...


SOoooo, I agree that so far the clues steer towards the conclusion that the French had a military or scientific base on the Island. Perhaps the time/continuum anomaly prevents radio broadcast through to civilization?
Aside: it has to be an island--unless it is a lost continent or different planet accessed through a hole in time [think "Marshall, Will, and Holly on a routine expedition") which is waaaaaay out there... but would be fun! Or, maybe it is a "Land that Time Forgot" in the Antartic--that would be cool too.


Observation One: There is a science fiction story by Jerome Bixby entitled "Its a Good Life." The story is about a 6 year old boy, Anthony Fremont -- AKA Mumy (with a wet purple gaze) who destroys the rest of the world except for his own town (the town of Peaksville, pop. 46). His mind is so powerful that he can read people's thoughts and send them to "the cornfield" if the thoughts are bad. He can create, destroy, morph at will. The townspeople are allowed to remain, but are his servants and live to entertain him. If they defy him in any way, they are destroyed, disfigured, or banished.


The Boy in Lost reminds me of this story. He mentioned to Locke that he did not have an Australian accent because "he moved around alot." This suggests that he and Mom may have been on the run--perhaps because of his ESP powers?


The Polar bear may have been conjured by him (as mentioned here in the past). The Twilight Zone did a sequal to this called, "Its Still a Good Life." Perhaps this represents a parapsychological bent to the plot? I still think that is too farfetched and that JJ will steer closer to believable psuedo science. Then again, all of your "fear" comments may suggest that little junior is reading bad thoughts and making the nightmares come true!
Obvious Observatoin/Prediction Two: JJ is using symbolism with the name "Locke." He knows something secret--which he is hiding or locking from the others. He may be "locking" the survivors in the prison of this Island because he may know a way out. The actor was a castmember of Millenium (I loved that show. Frank Black! Pixies?). I predict Locke is military or a spy, and knows of the island through past espionage.
It is going to be really interesting if the series delves into the supernatural or religious themes.


Some links:


www.thebulletin.org/issue...lsson.html


64.233.167.104/search?q=c...esia&hl=en


go.hrw.com/atlas/norm_htm/frpolyns.htm

www.halcyon.com/jmashmun/...dlife.html


Sleeestack

Re: French Comments and some other cool sh!t


Yes, I think that the French may have had a lot to do with what all is happening on the island. Guess we'lll find out when this "mystery French lady" shows up. Well, let me take that back... We'll probably get little hints as to if this is true or not, but I get the feeling that we won't find out what is REALLY going on for a very long time.


dispensable

Re: French


Those darn Frenchies!


Sleeestack

Re: French


Wow, Sleeestack. You really did your research. o_o;;


dispensable

Re: French island



hmmm i think the frenchies scientist theory is interesting. but what is the ultimately story of the show... i am pretty sure they wouldn't get rescue by anyone so soon yet. but last time a plane crash or missing they will always ended in the front page of the news paper. so let say the writter decided to make the plots more interesting, then it has something really interesting for the explanation. so far the theories are:


-- time loop
-- unsafe french isolated island with mutated creatures
-- just a plane crash story that will ended in 5 episodes or less.


P.S i think kate is hot so i gonna keep watching it...lol until her bra eventually come off... then i saw it's on ABC and i realized that isn't very likely. but anyways peeps this might be a very dramaticing tv series. i hope they gonna last and eventually comes out on dvds


FlynnWAtson

Re: French island



Well the message has been looping 16 years, five months. So what was happening back then? Pretty definitive clue Sherlocks!


Message also said "it" killed them, so the mysterious creature is a singular entity. Look for tracks or spoor.
Maybe the French came in possession of a crashed space ship and isolated an entity from that ship onto the isolated island. It awoke, ram amok and killed everyone. Maybe its an alien warbot, and the French, unable to destroy it instead isolated it on the island.


But the date appears related, n'cest pas?


Kpretzer

Re: French island



I posted this on another board but here goes..


What were the french doing 16 years ago ?
It might help this theory..


This ISLAND has evolved seperatly & so has the wildlife there...


Just as AUSTRALIAS wildlife did, same for New Guinea and the Galapagos islands.. a lot of islands evolve its wildlife differently. Diff climates, food, weather, all create different species.. I KNOW ALL ISLANDS HAVE BEEN CHARTED, but..


What if the people WHOM charted it..


in this case it was the FRENCH who aquired the landrights.. BACK WHENEVER ... 16 YEARS ? but the people sent to Inhabit/Guard the island , were caught completely off guard by all these strange exotic and even deadly widlife and now all have been killed by the unknown beast, the top predator living there... think KOMODO DRAGON ?


but maybe Mammalian ?


Leaving a distress call etc...


And if the FRENCH were busy 16 years ago.. who would have had the time to check ?


yung23

Re: French island



if we are talking about french experiments... we go back to my HOPE that this isn't a rip of THE ISLAND OF DOCTOR MOREAO... where there has been genetic experiments conducted with animals/humans... the writers probably don't want us saying LOST is a rip off of some old old show/movie... so probably not.


TeDDY RuCKSSPIN

Re: French island



not experiments, but natural evolution..


yung23

Re: French island - Monster Mash


I still think the verbage used in the distress call suggests that the intended recipient would "know" what "it" is... I just had a thought....there has to be something about the island or location that the signal is not heard by the outside world...


If I were stranded on an Island and had the opportunity to make a distress call, I would define the creature in some way to give a head's up to my rescuer. For example, "Help Me! There is a freaken eatmesaurus killing all my homies"...


But the distress call in my view seems intended for a specific recipient. Something that was controlled or locked up, but got free.


What do we know about this creature?


1. It is large enough to move the tops of 30 foot palm trees.


2. It is dexterous enough to pluck the pilot out of the wreckage (either with small pointy teeth (suggesting a smaller head) or a hand/claws with an opposable thumb.


3. The idea for the creature was not originally in the script, suggesting that the genesis for the idea was introduced by Hawaian legends.


4. It has a vicious roar that sounds familiar to someone from Long Island.


5. It is awake both night and day.


6. It is either too large or too cumbersome to outrun humans.


7. It killed the pilot and the compadres of the French chick.


8. It is an "it" suggesting some unknown or unfamiliar species.


9. It might not be able to access the black rock.


10. It did not attack the survivors on the beach (fear of water? Fear of fire? Fear of too many people?)


11. "It" may be so dangerous that the French refused to rescue the surviving French chick (or like I said above--there is something about the location that prevents the signal from reaching the outside world).


12. The existence of a polar bear suggests that something with zoology may have been going on (when "it" escaped so did the bear?) Maybe the bear was it's food? I also think the bear might evidence proximity to the artic....


Digression: My buddy Google shows the following in a Hawaiian monster search:


(a) Mamala the surf-rider was a chiefess of kupua character. She is described as a gigantic lizard.


(b) In an old Honolulu legend, a dog-man overthrows the government of Kahanai and becomes the ruling power between Nuuanu Valley and the sea. He is a cannibal and many of the people are killed and eaten by him. He can appear at will either as a man or a dog. (Interesting? Hmmmm.)


(c) In Maui, as legend goes, the king once had a giant rooster which was cruel and destructive. This rooster had magical abilities.


(d) Dragons are among the ghost-gods of the ancient Hawaiians. Known as mo-o and kupuas, they lived in pools or lakes and could appear as animals or human beings according to their wish. Kupuas have a strange double body, and are shapeshifters. Another interesting tidbit is that these shaeshifting dragons are also embedded in other South Pacific cultures, as far west as New Zealand... The New Zealand creatures (Taniwha) are said to inhabit the ocean and inland waters, hiding in deep pools, rivers, lakes and dark caves. In 2002, New Zealand newspapers discuss a situation where a new highway which was being built in the lower wetlands inhabited by the creatures, was stopped by a taniwha. Freak accidents and unfortunate deaths plagued the scheme until, on advice from the local Ngati Naho people, Transit New Zealand moved the route to higher ground.


(e) The indigineous cultures inhabiting the islands of French Polynesia are known for their human sacrifice and cannibalism. The avowed cannibals were found in New Zealand, the Hervey Islands, the Gambier Islands, and the Marquesas. The first settlers in Hawaii are thought to have arrived probably around 500 CE by what archaeologist think were from the Marquesas.


(f) Other Hawaiian Monsters:
Fire Goddess
Night Marchers (spirit warriors)
Pele the Goddess
The Shark Boy
Kanaloa: The Squid God
Maui, The Trickster
The Menehune of Kaua`i (trolls)
I gotta go for now. Anybody an expert on Hawaiian mythology that can tighten up this monster research?


Sources:


encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Kupua


myths.allinfoabout.com/feature101.html


www.create.org/myth/11myth.htm

http://www.geocities.com/~olelo/legends.html


Sleeestack

Re: French island - Monster Mash


Any ideas as to why part of the message was in French (the part actually spoken by the sender) and part was in English ("Iteration 12345")? Maybe it was just the thingy she used to send the message, so it is probably nothing...


mlevin2

Re: Theory on French distress call


ok, so after an hour of conjecture, me and my friends had a theory that the island was a french testing ground (under the aegis of nuclear testing on south pacific atolls) for electromagnetic weirdness, and that the electromagnetics tore the plane apart and also affected some crazy genetic mutations. the polar bear would have to been brought to the island, since even the ice age would not have gone that far south.


perhaps some bermuda triangle weirdness with electromagnetics?


the french transmission would have to have some self-sustaining power source to have been transmitting that long, hence perhaps a station of some sort...


i dunno. that's what happens when tired tv junkies start talking science and tv plots...


djshiva

Re: Theory on French distress call


You're suggesting it might be some kind of Hawaiian god or guardian creature? I highly doubt that they would be able to make that in the story, it would probably be quite insulting to the native Hawaiians here seeing as how its the gods that they respect and believe in...if you know what I mean? Although your idea is quite plausible.

Btw, Pele the goddess is the fire goddess


Vicki

Re: Theory on French distress call

Good point. I would love for the show to take religious and heavy sci fi plot turns (viking and phoenician ships -- Atlantis--Philedelpia Experiment -- Land of the Lost -- Land that Time Forgot, etc.) --but I still think it will live within the parameters of believable psuedo-science.


Finger's crossed though.

Sleeestack

Re: Theory on French distress call


Ha! Google search for 1988, french, disappearance yielded a first hit of "Jules Verne Stamps: 1988: French Southern & Antarctic Lands". Apparently one of his novels is "The Mysterious Island". *strokes chin*


railwaymadness


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