The payload rocket.
Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2008 4:13 am
I've heard a few theories about the time difference between the clock inside the payload rocket and beacon clock. So far it seems there are holes in the theories, but I've got my own theory. First I'll go over others I've heard.
The most common theory that I've seen is that the island is 31 minutes behind real world time. This is based on the fact that the beacon clock is 31 minutes behind the rocket clock. Just a few problems. If the island is 31 minutes behind, how they communicate in real time with the freighter? Also, if this theory were true, why are the clocks different. Even if the island is 31 minutes behind, Dan never set his watch differently. It would seem that his watch and the beacon should still match the clock in the rocket.
I'm sure everyone has seen Back to the Future. In the mall parking lot, Doc send Einstein a minute into the future, and the difference in clocks was the proof. When I first saw the rocket seen, I thought this is what happened. I thought the rocket had been sent 31 minutes into the future. Then I realized the times would have to be switched for this to be the case. The rocket clock would have to be 31 minutes behind the beacon clock for this theory to have been true, not the other way around like it was.
Then I thought, maybe the rocket went into the past, but of course. That would have made the times correct, but in this case the rocket would have had to already arrived before Dan even asked for it.
Just sitting here thinking about it, I thought of a way to make the clocks work and to make communication possible. It's complicated, and probably not even the answer but it works. Here it goes.
When the freighter four traveled to the island they were thrown an hour into the future. Because they skipped over an hour that the freighter or island people didn't Dan's watch and the beacon clock becomes 1 hour behind. So for example, any clocks on the freighter might say 6:00, but Dan's watch would say 5:00, even though it's really 6:00. They're not living in different times so communication is completely avaible. Fast Forward to Dan asking for the payload. It's 3:14 in the afternoon, but Dan's watch says 2:14 (this isn't shown of course). He asks for the payload, but instead of 1 hour in the future, it only travels 30 minutes into the future and lands on the island as Regina saw. This is because it took a different compass bearing to get to the island. It takes Dan 31 minutes to catch up to the rocket, but it only takes the rocket a minute or so to get to the island. Therefore, the clock in the rocket would have only passed a minute or so to 3:16 but Dan had to wait 31 minutes (30 min in the future + a min travel time) so his clock would have gone from 2:14 to 2:45. I think this is why Dan tell Frank to make sure and stay on the right bearing. He's afraid that taking the wrong bearing could potentially spit you out to any time or maybe even any place (polar bear in Tunisia).
I think this could also solve a mystery from season 1. The plane took off in the afternoon and traveled east for eight hours. The crash should have happened in the dark, not in the afternoon. That's unless, of course, they either went forward or backward in time when entering the island to a point that it was afternoon.
The most common theory that I've seen is that the island is 31 minutes behind real world time. This is based on the fact that the beacon clock is 31 minutes behind the rocket clock. Just a few problems. If the island is 31 minutes behind, how they communicate in real time with the freighter? Also, if this theory were true, why are the clocks different. Even if the island is 31 minutes behind, Dan never set his watch differently. It would seem that his watch and the beacon should still match the clock in the rocket.
I'm sure everyone has seen Back to the Future. In the mall parking lot, Doc send Einstein a minute into the future, and the difference in clocks was the proof. When I first saw the rocket seen, I thought this is what happened. I thought the rocket had been sent 31 minutes into the future. Then I realized the times would have to be switched for this to be the case. The rocket clock would have to be 31 minutes behind the beacon clock for this theory to have been true, not the other way around like it was.
Then I thought, maybe the rocket went into the past, but of course. That would have made the times correct, but in this case the rocket would have had to already arrived before Dan even asked for it.
Just sitting here thinking about it, I thought of a way to make the clocks work and to make communication possible. It's complicated, and probably not even the answer but it works. Here it goes.
When the freighter four traveled to the island they were thrown an hour into the future. Because they skipped over an hour that the freighter or island people didn't Dan's watch and the beacon clock becomes 1 hour behind. So for example, any clocks on the freighter might say 6:00, but Dan's watch would say 5:00, even though it's really 6:00. They're not living in different times so communication is completely avaible. Fast Forward to Dan asking for the payload. It's 3:14 in the afternoon, but Dan's watch says 2:14 (this isn't shown of course). He asks for the payload, but instead of 1 hour in the future, it only travels 30 minutes into the future and lands on the island as Regina saw. This is because it took a different compass bearing to get to the island. It takes Dan 31 minutes to catch up to the rocket, but it only takes the rocket a minute or so to get to the island. Therefore, the clock in the rocket would have only passed a minute or so to 3:16 but Dan had to wait 31 minutes (30 min in the future + a min travel time) so his clock would have gone from 2:14 to 2:45. I think this is why Dan tell Frank to make sure and stay on the right bearing. He's afraid that taking the wrong bearing could potentially spit you out to any time or maybe even any place (polar bear in Tunisia).
I think this could also solve a mystery from season 1. The plane took off in the afternoon and traveled east for eight hours. The crash should have happened in the dark, not in the afternoon. That's unless, of course, they either went forward or backward in time when entering the island to a point that it was afternoon.