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2X13-SayidHurleyMusic

Sayid and Hurley listening to the broadcast ("The Long Con")

A broadcast from the radio station WXR was picked up by Hurley and Sayid in "The Long Con".

After discovering that Bernard had picked up Boone's signal from the Nigerian plane, Hurley gave the radio (the same one found in the Arrow) to Sayid to see if he could make the reception stronger. Using a pole as a makeshift antenna, they dialed past Rousseau's transmission and picked up a broadcast from the 1940s:

RADIO ANNOUNCER: [with spotty reception] That was the old classic "Just A-Sittin' and A-Rockin'" by Duke Ellington and his Orchestra, featuring Cootie Williams on the trumpet. Up next on WXR, the Glenn Miller Orchestra with "Moonlight Serenade".

"Moonlight Serenade" then began to play with clear reception, which made Hurley wonder if it was coming from close by. Sayid pointed out that since these radio waves bounce off the ionosphere, it could be coming from anywhere. Hurley retorted with, "Or, anytime. Just kidding, dude." ("The Long Con")

Notes[]

  • In the recap episode "Lost: A Journey in Time", producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse revealed that the radio broadcast was indeed from the 1940s and a product of time travel.
  • The station was playing 1940’s era big band jazz music, specifically "Moonlight Serenade", a song that was heard again in "A Tale of Two Cities".
  • In 1944 a plane carrying Glenn Miller and two other army officers mysteriously disappeared over the English Channel. The aircraft has never been found, nor have any bodies.
  • WXR appears to be a public-service station operated by the US Army. Under International protocols the prefix W is assigned to the United States, and combinations from WUA to WVZ and WXA to WZZ are reserved for the stations of the Army of the United States. [1] Interestingly WXR was the call sign used by the US Army base in Kodiak, Alaska in 1945. [2], [3]
  • The announcer mentions the song "Just A-Sittin' and A-Rockin" by Duke Ellington. In "The Man Behind the Curtain", a man appears to be sitting and rocking in a rocking chair. "An aged rocking chair" appears on a list of furnishings that are inside the dilapidated cabin.
  • When signals of the type picked up by the radio (short-wave, high frequency) impinge upon the ionosphere, they are largely reflected back toward the earth. With one or more reflections between the earth and the ionosphere, a short-wave radio signal can be received at long distances from the transmitter. Furthermore, reception may be particularly good at night for certain shortwave frequencies because the reflective properties of the ionosphere tend to be greater without the interference of the sun.
  • Although it is known that the Looking Glass was blocking all communications signals up to December 23, 2004, it is unknown if the jamming had started by November 17, when Hurley and Sayid picked up the station.
  • In the Find 815 ARG, the main character, Sam is on a salvage boat in the Indian Ocean. He is listening to an analog radio, and hears a broadcast from 1937 reporting the disappearance of Amelia Earhart. However this radio station is not explicitly identified as WXR.
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