It just occurred to me...let's assume it's a cover up: Where did they get all the people from? Were they cadavars, or did people have to get sacrificed for this cover up?

Please, everyone stop with the Alternate Reality theory.

If it's a coverup- it obv happened before they got rescued- i think it happened shortly after the crash. Oceanic gave the oceanic 6 a story to tell, i.e. we jumped from the plane and swam to an island. And in exchange, nobody disclosed what happened on the island- the killings, darmha, etc.

Or, what I originally thought- the oceanic six and rescue is def an alternative reality based on what's happening on the island now. But it will be a different outcome if they choose the right path on the island. I really don't think the producers would show us the ending of the show now. There's going to be a different outcome.

Wait a minute. If the plane was a cover up, WHY then in episode 401, we learned at the beginning when Hurley got caught by the police, saying "I'm one of the Oceanic six survivors"

How could he be a survivor if the plane crashed like that in to the see?

So, is it a cover up or another parallell-universe thing?

even though this is likely a cover-up plane, doesn't it look like there is a hole in the front window - right where the pilot got pulled out of the plane on the island

I think Michael is Ben's man on the boat.

"Maybe that's why Dan Faraday was so scared when he saw the footage of the plane underwater. He was on the island and new people survived the crash, but then to learn they were all really dead freaked him out."

Great Theory

Maybe Dan Faraday is Ben's man on the boat?

Barnacles or whatever...the plane did not have much water damage - rust, sea growth, corrosion, etc. And I'm not a marine biologist but a google search indicates numerous sites that list barnacles as occuring at all depths of the sea. :-D

I'm not saying it isn't true (the future thing), just that I didn't get anything in the episode that blew me away to the idea...and plenty of stuff that suggested it was more real time.

The wreckage was "found" nearly three miles deep in the ocean. That is much too deep to do a salvage operation and the robot cameras would be the only way to even access the site. Also, don't barnacles live near the surface? That would explain why there are none on the plane. And that first picture looks more like an open suitcase with the top on the right and the bottom (filled with some clothes) on the left. Just my $0.02

thebeann, I did mean that the alternate reality was real-time - I think what you pointed out supports this. I do see strong "cover-up" evidence too. I'm just having fun exploring the alternate reality idea. I love Lost.

I actually just read in a book that the section of ocean where the plane was doesn't support barnacle life, so thats why they aren't on the plane

ok, I just made that up

I don't buy the "future" thing - Charlotte was said to be born in 1979 and she didn't look much older than 28-29 to me. If it was a real alternate reality it would have to be real-time because there were no barnacles on the plane.

Plus, when the first Pilot said that the body was not the real 815 pilot, that suggested very strongly of a cover up vs alternate reality.

Personally, I think the writers answered the question "cover up vs MPU" with Lawnmower Man's statement. They also answered the timeline issue by giving Charlotte's birthday

Sorry about the double post guys, my computer screwed up.

First time poster, long time lurker here.
I was looking at the enlarged picture of the item on the ocean floor there and couldn't figure out what it was, I thought it was a box. My mom then looked at it and said right away that it was a badge. That's exactly what it is, a badge wallet with a badge in it. Could that belong to Kate's buddy, US Marshall Edward Mars?
If this is a setup, thats some serious attention to detail isn't it?

First time poster, long time lurker here.
I was looking at the enlarged picture of the item on the ocean floor there and couldn't figure out what it was, I thought it was a box. My mom then looked at it and said right away that it was a badge. That's exactly what it it, a badge wallet with a badge in it. Could that belong to Kate's buddy, US Marshall Edward Mars?
If this is some kind of setup, that is some serious attention to detail. Didn't they say on the news broadcast that they would NOT be salvaging the wreckage? That isn't normal airline protocol, they would salvage the wreckage to try to find out what happened, and the bodies so their loved ones could bury them.
Also, and less importantly, I don't believe hey would have shown footage that morbid on TV, at least not of someone's face, that would just never happen. But I understand doing it for the sake of Frank noticing the lack of a ring.

you guys are over thinking it.

It's this simple. The plane was leaving Syndey going to LA.

Where the plane was found is COMPLETELY the wrong direction that flight would have to taken.

So it's a cover up and a really bad one, particulary if you know the routes planes fly.

An alternate reality doesn't mean that everything is exactly the same. Maybe the pilot on the sunk plane was Lawnmower man - who's alternate reality is the island/Bahamas.

I don't go for the alternate reality theory. Can we go back to Season 1 and get a screen cap of the pilot before Smokey took him and see if there's a ring on his finger. An alternate reality wouldn't get the ring off his finger but a Dharma screw up would.

I don't go for the alternate reality theory. Can we go back to Season 1 and get a screen cap of the pilot before Smokey took him and see if there's a ring on his finger. An alternate reality wouldn't get the ring off his finger but a Dharma screw up would.

Or....it's the alternate reality theory. In one world, the plane crashed into the ocean. In the other, the plane crashed on the island. Maybe that's why Dan Faraday was so scared when he saw the footage of the plane underwater. He was on the island and new people survived the crash, but then to learn they were all really dead freaked him out. Dan is labelled as a "headcase", and maybe you need to be a bit of a headcase to realize the two realities. Two realities can also explain why Charlie is dead, but yet alive enough to hit Hurley.

Aside from being in three pieces, the plane is remarkably intact for having crashed into the ocean, as though it was intentionally sunk ( a clue?). to see what REALLY happens when an two-engine jetliner hits the water, see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oj_MYjM8WTs
This is a real crash, when a hijacked airliner ran out of fuel and intentionally ditched - airplanes are fragile - you can see the plane break up as it hits the water, into somewhat more than 3 pieces.

Astriastar, yes we thought it was strange that they were showing the actual "dead" bdies live on the news. could be just a slip up, or, it could be that this is many many years in the future and by this point in time people are numb to that. remember, 30 or 40 years ago, they didnt eben show toilets or married couples in the same bed, and now?

If that is the case then who is the black guy (sorry I don't know his name) who was talking to Naomi in the flashback? Does he work for Oceanic? Widmore? Dharma? Could Dharma be going after Ben because he killed their entire group? He put that team together which included the pilot that called Oceanic to say that the pilot on the news was not who they said it was. Why would there be an actual Oceanic plane under water? Is Oceanic involved?

Also how was there a flashback involving Naomi if she is dead?

yes, but really, in the magical world that is LOST, we don't know anything for sure. What's real, what's not, who's an other, who's being bit by spiders that paralyze you just long enough to be buried alive... yes the plane is there...and yes, it is probably a cover up, based on the "no ring on the pilot" discovery, but the point is, could be a the zig right before the zag.

Well, clearly, it is a cover up, since we know that the plane broke into three parts: one crashed on the beach (losties), one ended up in the middle of the jungle (cockpit), and one fell into the ocean (tailies). This one shows the entire plane jumbled in one spot on the ocean floor. Did anyone else find it macabre that they were showing the bodies on the news report? It may have been spoiled somewhere, but I just wonder what is to be gained by making the world think that no one survived the crash.