Electromagnetism/Theories

From Lostpedia

Effects

• The strong electromagnetic field produced by the Swan station serves to focus the thought patterns (brainwaves) of people on the island, perhaps with the assistance of further parapsychology apparatus elsewhere on the island. This produces real manifestations of people's thoughts, like the polar bear, Jack's father, etc.
• One theory is that the island gives off a strong magnetic field which creates a strong north-south field in concentric rings around the island, just like a normal magnet. Traveling across the rings (rather than due "north" or "south" from the source) would slowly change the heading. Trying to stay on the same heading would result in sailing around in large circles around the island. The heading of 325 could be the "magnetic north" of the islands localized field coupled with the earth's field (making the "true north" of the island pointing about 290 degrees).
• The high EMF(electromagnetic fields) is part of the island itself. The Swan station was built to manipulate the EMF's so that the properties of the island can be controlled. People in the real world have been known to experience symptom due to high EMF's usually called electromagnetic hypersensitivity, symptoms include: skin irritations, paranoia, fatigue, hallucinations, and may others. Hypersensitivity could also be the sickness that is commonly referred to in the show. Also there are theories about ghost and the paranormal can be detected through EMF's and can use EMF's to help manifest itself to the living. This would explain why the island seems to be able to absorb the dead and use them to do its bidding, i.e. Christian, Yemi, and Kate's horse. High EMF could also explain the monster since in the real world some have said that they see a black mass near an electrical output that emits high EMFs and they always feel uneasy near that place where the high EMFs are being emitted from. In all the high EMF from the island could be the very reason why it is so special.

Causes

• The anomaly is caused by the Hydrogen Bomb (Jughead), possibly buried in 1954 at the current location of the Dharma Swan Station. Hydrogen bombs were replaced by the atom bomb because of unpredictable electromagnetic radiation. During the construction of the Swan station the Dharma initiative may have uncovered the bomb, or damaged it further in some way. As a result, they placed it behind a concrete wall, as explained by Sayid when he told Jack the last time he heard of concrete being poured over everything like this was Chernobyl. The radiation leakage might be the cause of the "incident." If the radiation leakage is left unchecked, after 108 minutes the buildup becomes hazardous and must be released by pressing the button, or as a last resort the failsafe key used by Desmond. This would also explain why Kelvin Inman was wearing a biohazard suit when he met Desmond. Another possibility is that one of the purposes of the Pearl Station was to monitor the effects of the radiation on the people living in the Swan station. (Courtesy of Antoine and Gaelan)

Misc

• There may be another magnetic abnormality somewhere on the Island, and a procedure similar to entering the Numbers is required to keep it under control. This is supported by the Swan's orientation video. Marvin Candle states that the Swan is used to control the electromagnetic abnormalities on this section of the Island. This could hint that another abnormality needs to be kept under control.
• If this was an experiment, it has gone horribly awry. This states that the plan was to lower the blast doors and see what would happen when huge electromagnetic forces were reached. (This also explains the control panel in the dome.) The doors would be activated, and then they would activate the system. It would imply huge forces on the object being tested. However, it caused the system to malfunction, and it began activating every 108 minutes. It was always on a low charge, (ready) and explains the minute effects of magnetism in the swan. So the project was abandoned, the room sealed, a timer and reset system installed, and it was forgotten. This is also good, as it explains why the failsafe was not labeled "Self Destruct" but system termination: It would terminate the system: the force generator.

Outside References

• The myth of the Loadstone is found in One Thousand and One Nights. It is about a rock with the power to pull the nails out of ships. Lost could be the combination of Lo from load and st from stone. The island has pulled planes apart; this could be a reference to the loadstone pulling apart ships.