Time Warp Theory

Okay, although a very confusing episode we at least know that there is some time-space continuum thing going on. I agree that Ben has to know this and therefore understands all the coordinates and what coordinates lead to what time. I think this explains Desmond and his deja vu. Maybe there is a battle going on over control of the island and Desmond is caught in the middle. Penny is trying to get him off the island and Charles is keeping him on. Each time Desmond ends back up at the same point in time.

That being said, maybe the reason the pilot of the sunk airplane didn't have a ring is because someone hijacked the plane. Remember the helicopter pilot said that he knew the man they said was the pilot wasn't because he always wore a wedding ring. Maybe one of the charaters went back in time, hijacked the plane and deliberately crashed it into the ocean to ensure the chain would stop.

Another theory on that...if anyone has read Rant by Chuck Palaniuk he also delved into space-time continuum, and the characters would go back in time and kill their parents. When they did this they would live on for eternity. Maybe that's going on here too. Maybe that is why that one guy never ages. Maybe.

How do you explain the fact that they showed a picture of Seth Norris on the tv in "confirmed dead" as the issued pilot for 815, and it was the same pilot who was in the cockpit in the very first episode? anyway, where the heck is Penny? I would like to think she's on another boat nearby.

Another interesting facet of time travel is that, if you were indeed able to go back through time,you essentially have to travel in 24 hour increments. Say you went back in time 12 hours, then (assuming you dissapear, reappear a la Hiro Nakamura) you would be on the opposite side of the earth, twelve hours earlier. The reason being that the earth will continue to rotate while you are traveling back in time and the physical area you were occuping would be the same spot yet the world has rotated below your feet. The payload clock being 31 minutes behind (or ahead, I can't remember) presents a paradox for the location of its arrival. Obviously time travel isn't real so the writers can make it work anyway they see fit...