TimeShifts Opened Windows to the Island by Matod

Revising & reinforcing a theory I posted previously.

On December 30, 2004 Ben turns the Frozen Wheel causing our Losties to skip through time. This theory attempts to explain a few of the impacts these Timeshifts had on our Lost World.

When a timeshift occurs the sky turns white and a deafening sound is heard. These events are similar to Desmond forgetting to push the button, the failsafe being activated and the drilling incident at the Swan. These shifts are electromagnetic surges. However, the noticeable effects of these timeshifts only occur for our time travelers, everyone else on the Island notices nothing out of the ordinary.

These events create an opening in the Island's protective barrier for an indeterminable amount of time and may pull people towards the Island. I'm not certain that each timeshift MUST bring people, but the possibility is greatly increased.

Our Losties experience 15 flashes before finally arriving in 1974. Of these 15 we can approximate 9 of their dates. The other 6 are either too quick or provide too little information about their time period.

In chronological order, these are the dates we can discern. I believe these windows could stay open for much longer than just the flash and may draw people from an off-island time surrounding the actual timeshift. :

I gathered my dates from Lostpedia. http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Timeline:Time_shifts

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Late 1954 – Jughead’s arrival with the American Military.

1974 – This was the final timeshift, bringing the time-skipping Losties to a stable place on the Island.

Nov 18, 1988 – Rousseau’s Team arrival

Early Jan, 1989 – Unknown

Nov 1, 2004 – While Ben was pretending to be Henry Gale he said his wife died on Nov 4, 2004. Could this flash have crashed Henry Gale’s hot air balloon?

2001-2002 – Locke awakes from this flash and sees the Nigerian Beechcraft crash to the Island. This is the first flash and the most compelling evidence.

2001-2002 – Desmond arrives by sailboat in 2001

2007(After Ajira crash Day 4) – These next two flashes are very close to each other. I think the first could have provided the window for Ajira 316.

2007(After Ajira crash Day 6+) – Widmore’s submarine arrives on island

6 other timeshifts – They could have brought the Black Rock, the original Dharma, Naomi’s helicopter, Keamy’s team, some of the Others, possibly even some of the first inhabitants from Egyptian time.

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It's obvious that people can come and go from the Island (Ben's sub, Dharma, Jacob) but I remember Locke saying to Ben they were cheating, coming and going as they please.

There is enough correlation to realize these timeshifts are bringing people to the Island. Maybe Jacob had control over when in time they would flash. However, I like to believe these flashes were random, without Jacob or MIB's influence and may have created many paradoxes.

During the 14th flash Sawyer is clutching the well’s rope that is now buried deep in the ground. Sawyer brought the rope to this time of the intact Taweret statue while flashing. Until that flash there was no reason to build a well there. Sawyer’s rope is the reason the well was dug in that location! The truly odd thing about this is the Frozen Wheel existed before the well -- We see Locke below ground turning it during this flash. Obvious the wheel is very old technology. Did Sawyer’s rope finally allow humans on the Island to discover its hidden powers?

Jacob/MIB could still steer people into the path of these flashes to bring them to the Island. Either way this period of time travel that Ben has created changed the whole game.

Thanks for the previous comments I hope this theory is stronger and more compelling.