When trying to figure out exactly who "The Others" are, we can try to narrow it down with a few observations:

* Based on their accents, they are Americans
* Based on the different ethnicities of the members, they are not a tribe or a family

So then, who are they?

We know they aren't really dirty savages, but more likely members of a program called the Dharma Initiative...a privately funded ...(we assume) research program.

This presents a few problems:

* The island is "huge". An island that large would most likely be owned by a goverment, not a private company. To purchase an island that large, AND develop highly advanced technology AND fund the program would cost billions of dollars.

* In order to build the hatches and other state-of-the-art underground facilities on an island in the middle of nowhere would require a great deal of shipping and construction, not to mention a huge staff of construction personel to build it.

* In order to continually replentish the staff living on the island with food and comforts and time-off, etc. would also require a great deal of shipping... either by boat, plane or helicopter.

So, if we are to believe that the island is a sort of privately owned Area51, it wouldn't be possible to run this type of operation without making a footprint. All the materials and supplies would have to be based and shipped from somewhere nearby. The real Area51 has its own incognito airline based in Las Vegas in a high security air terminal with un-marked planes that service the secret base daily. The entire thing is cloaked by government security, and the penalty for breaching this security is death.

A private organization wouldn't be able to do this. You simply can't buy an island and start running a multi-billion dollar high-tech initiative without raising the suspicions of nearby governments.

Therefore, it seems the Dharma Initiative may in fact be a front for a secret U.S. Government operation.... a sort of South Pacific Area51 where new technology and mind control experiments are developed and tested.

Yes?