Surprisingly, I didn't hear much mention of a certain discrepancy brought up by Mrs. Hawking during the meeting in the Lamp Post. She reveals that the island is "always moving." However, Jacob (or Christian) asks Locke to "move the island." The fact that Jacob commands the island to be moved implies that the island does NOT move on it's own.
Perhaps then, the original locators of the island built the donkey wheel chamber in order to stop the movements of the island, and turning the wheel essentially "unlocks" the island, opening up it's electromagnetic energy and allowing it to move freely again.
So here's what I think: the "incident" is actually Dharma sending a polar bear into the wheel chamber to turn it, thus accidentally starting the random movements of the island again, causing the nosebleed-inducing "sickness" which results in many Dharma deaths. Rather than use the old-fashioned donkey wheel to "lock" the island's movement up again, they use the Swan station as a stopper for the energy. Every 108 minutes the charge builds up, but instead of allowing the energy to build up so much that the island moves, it is dispelled by the button-push. This explains why the Swan had to be manned instead of automatic: Dharma figured that if no one was left to push the button, the island might as well be allowed to move.
After the Swan's button routine is implemented, Dharma sends another bear down to fix the donkey wheel (or maybe they send Widmore down?) And then they seal up the chamber. It's also possible that Widmore gets sent by Richard to the wheel first, causing the incident (Richard and the hostiles may WANT the island in motion), and then Dharma sends a polar bear down the second time, to fix the wheel like we saw Locke do in "This Place is Death."
So there you have it. The island is always moving, but Dharma arrives and STOPS it from moving, the "incident" is the Others STARTing the movement up again, and the button is used by Dharma, who again STOP the movements. Ben then STARTS the movement again, and Locke STOPS the movement this time. Theory by PoloNoir
Perhaps then, the original locators of the island built the donkey wheel chamber in order to stop the movements of the island, and turning the wheel essentially "unlocks" the island, opening up it's electromagnetic energy and allowing it to move freely again.
So here's what I think: the "incident" is actually Dharma sending a polar bear into the wheel chamber to turn it, thus accidentally starting the random movements of the island again, causing the nosebleed-inducing "sickness" which results in many Dharma deaths. Rather than use the old-fashioned donkey wheel to "lock" the island's movement up again, they use the Swan station as a stopper for the energy. Every 108 minutes the charge builds up, but instead of allowing the energy to build up so much that the island moves, it is dispelled by the button-push. This explains why the Swan had to be manned instead of automatic: Dharma figured that if no one was left to push the button, the island might as well be allowed to move.
After the Swan's button routine is implemented, Dharma sends another bear down to fix the donkey wheel (or maybe they send Widmore down?) And then they seal up the chamber. It's also possible that Widmore gets sent by Richard to the wheel first, causing the incident (Richard and the hostiles may WANT the island in motion), and then Dharma sends a polar bear down the second time, to fix the wheel like we saw Locke do in "This Place is Death."
So there you have it. The island is always moving, but Dharma arrives and STOPS it from moving, the "incident" is the Others STARTing the movement up again, and the button is used by Dharma, who again STOP the movements. Ben then STARTS the movement again, and Locke STOPS the movement this time. Theory by PoloNoir
