This is lengthy but bear with me
I think Richard Alpert is Jacob. I think Richard was a member of the Black Rock crew and somehow developed supernatural abilities from being of the first to reach the island. There are many things that support this. First of all, he never ages. Some say that this happens to everyone on the island just not Ben because he leaves the island. Yet Richard clearly leaves the island often and still never ages. Also, none of the rest of the others appear to have this ability as Tom appears pretty old and baby Aaron appears to be growing. Richard also can travel to and from the island without the submarine as Richard gets Locke's down after Locke blows up the submarine. Jacob can choose to appear when he wishes as he is invisible for most of the cabin seen in the man behind the curtain except for a brief moment. He can also talk to people selectively as for some part of the seen only Ben can hear him and then only Locke can hear him say help me. I think this also means he can appear ! differently as Ben does not know Richard is Jacob. I think Richard shows he can change appearance or be invisible because in One of Us Richard is videoing Rachael at the playground yet Rachael does not recognize him. Rachael met Richard at Mittelos and shook his hand twice. Now if someone you loved disappeared for three years you would remember the fce of the guy she was last with.
Due to the recent time travel revelation i think Richard has similar time affects as Desmond. From visions of the future he knows he is going to purge the Dharma initiative. When he and young Ben have a conversation in the jungle in the man behind the curtain, Richard asks Ben a series of questions about his mother and Richard becomes excited that Ben sees and hears yet appears upset when Ben says his mother said "It's not time yet." This was a message to Richard that it wasn't time to purge dharma yet. From future visions Richard knew that people would attack the island and seek the leader of the hostiles. Richard created Jacob so Ben would become the leader because of his ability to communicate with Jacob. In this way Richard inadvertently calls the shots and still appears to be a background figure keeping him safe from the freighters.
It also appears that by the end of the third season Jacob is losing faith in Ben and seeks Locke as the new leader. Around the same time Richard approaches Locke and tells him Ben is failing and that Locke needs to find his purpose. In through the looking glass part 1 Ben decides to attack the 815ers early and Richard gets flustered acting as if things aren't going the way he wants. Finally, when Ben returns after taking Locke to Jacob Richard approaches Ben and says "Did Locke see..."and is cut off, from this we know 2 things:
1. Richard at least has some knowledge of Jacob's abilities as he asks if Locke was able to see him, implying he knows Jacob appears to very few people
2.Jacob knows Locke heard him because Locke is startled by the "help me" but Jacob still doesn't know if Locke could see him and Richard only asks Ben if Locke saw Jacob
Theory by Matt
I think Richard Alpert is Jacob. I think Richard was a member of the Black Rock crew and somehow developed supernatural abilities from being of the first to reach the island. There are many things that support this. First of all, he never ages. Some say that this happens to everyone on the island just not Ben because he leaves the island. Yet Richard clearly leaves the island often and still never ages. Also, none of the rest of the others appear to have this ability as Tom appears pretty old and baby Aaron appears to be growing. Richard also can travel to and from the island without the submarine as Richard gets Locke's down after Locke blows up the submarine. Jacob can choose to appear when he wishes as he is invisible for most of the cabin seen in the man behind the curtain except for a brief moment. He can also talk to people selectively as for some part of the seen only Ben can hear him and then only Locke can hear him say help me. I think this also means he can appear ! differently as Ben does not know Richard is Jacob. I think Richard shows he can change appearance or be invisible because in One of Us Richard is videoing Rachael at the playground yet Rachael does not recognize him. Rachael met Richard at Mittelos and shook his hand twice. Now if someone you loved disappeared for three years you would remember the fce of the guy she was last with.
Due to the recent time travel revelation i think Richard has similar time affects as Desmond. From visions of the future he knows he is going to purge the Dharma initiative. When he and young Ben have a conversation in the jungle in the man behind the curtain, Richard asks Ben a series of questions about his mother and Richard becomes excited that Ben sees and hears yet appears upset when Ben says his mother said "It's not time yet." This was a message to Richard that it wasn't time to purge dharma yet. From future visions Richard knew that people would attack the island and seek the leader of the hostiles. Richard created Jacob so Ben would become the leader because of his ability to communicate with Jacob. In this way Richard inadvertently calls the shots and still appears to be a background figure keeping him safe from the freighters.
It also appears that by the end of the third season Jacob is losing faith in Ben and seeks Locke as the new leader. Around the same time Richard approaches Locke and tells him Ben is failing and that Locke needs to find his purpose. In through the looking glass part 1 Ben decides to attack the 815ers early and Richard gets flustered acting as if things aren't going the way he wants. Finally, when Ben returns after taking Locke to Jacob Richard approaches Ben and says "Did Locke see..."and is cut off, from this we know 2 things:
1. Richard at least has some knowledge of Jacob's abilities as he asks if Locke was able to see him, implying he knows Jacob appears to very few people
2.Jacob knows Locke heard him because Locke is startled by the "help me" but Jacob still doesn't know if Locke could see him and Richard only asks Ben if Locke saw Jacob
Theory by Matt