Is The Island 'Visible' Or 'Not Visible'?

Things have been somewhat slow on the NG lately, so I decide to post
this message so as get a lively debate going.

There has recently been much discussion between me and another member of
the NG regarding whether or not the island is 'invisible'.  First off
let me clarify my use of the words 'visible', 'invisible' and 'not
visible'.  A 'visible' object is something you can see.  An object that
is 'invisible' you would not be able to see.  Even if you could pick it
up in your hand, such as a rubber ball.  You could hold it and feel it
but you still would not be able to see it.  Now an object that is 'not
visible' would be something that you can see, if there was not another
object obstructing your view.  Such as a rubber ball on a table but
there is a partition place between you and the table.  The rubber ball
is 'visible', but because the partition blocks your line of sight the
rubber ball is 'not visible' to you.

Because we can see the island it is 'visible'.  There have been several
scenes where the camera shots of the island were from a place that was
off shore.  Such as the raft, the yacht, the helicopter and the small
island where the Hydra Station is located.

Now I know that there are some of you who will say that the island is
hard to find because it can not be seen.  You will even reference
dialogue from certain characters that gives the impression that the
island is 'not visible'.

There is the term 'snow globe' that Desmond used to describe as to why
he couldn’t sail away from the island.  What he said was "We are stuck
in a bloody snow globe!"  Just because he said snow globe doesn’t mean
the island is stuck in one.  It just a figure of speech.  It was just
Desmond’s way of expressing his frustration of not being able to sail
away from the island.  But that is no indication that the island is 'not
visible'.  As to why he ended up back at the island can be explain by
the fact the island has an electromagnetic anomaly that effects a
compass’ bearing.  This was demonstrated in a earlier episode where
Sayid showed Jack that Locks’ compass was not pointing in the correct
direction.

Then there is Naomi who stated that she was flying back to the freighter
when the clouds cleared and she saw land.  This would not indicate the
island was 'not visible' one minute and then 'visible' the next due to
some 'barrier'.  In fact it proves that the island is 'visible' from the
air.  Don't forget she was flying at night.  Her statement about the
clouds would indicate that there were low lying clouds in the area.  Low
lying cloud cover will keep a pilot from seeing what’s below or ahead of
them.  She said she was given a set of coordinates in the middle of the
ocean.  But she also said she didn’t know about the island.  Just
because she wasn’t aware of the island's location doesn’t make it
'invisible' or 'not visible'.  She says her job was to search an area
based on a set of coordinates.  But she doesn’t say what she is
searching for other than she is trying to locate Desmond.

Another point that was brought up is the satellite phone.  It is implied
that because the folks on the freighter can not see the island they are
using the phone to pinpoint its’ location.  But there is nothing in any
of the dialogue regarding the use of phone that would indicate the
island is 'not visible'.  The reason Jack was asked to keep the phone
turn on was so they could use it to locate his exact position on the
island.  This is not some small island, it’s fairly large.  Also
remember Frank and his group were flying to the island at night.  It
would be very hard to locate Jack’s position during the day much less at
night without some form of navigational aid to assist them.  Even in
daytime it would be very hard to locate a person on the island from the
air.  An individual would have to be standing in a large clearing to
have any change of being seen.  The island has very rough terrain and
heavy jungle growth that would obstruct a person in an aircraft from
locating someone on the ground without using something to locate their
position.  And at night it would be next to impossible without using a
flare, a large bonfire, or a radio/satphone.

If thou in a later episode it is firmly established that the island can
not be seen from a reasonably short distance, I will concede that the
island is 'not visible'.  And yes I also do have a theory as to why the
island can not be seen as well.


Fred Ellis
-- 
Who do you serve. . . .   And who do you trust?
(To e-mail me, remove the X from my address)