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Secrets of 'Lost' lead back to U-M

Island may prove to be a creepy research center
October 7, 2005


BY JULIE HINDS
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER


The secrets are spilling on ABC's "Lost" and guess what? The plane crash survivors won't be shouting "Go Blue!"





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http://lost-media.com/entertainment/... for beginners

Wednesday's episode revealed a connection between the strange events on the island and the University of Michigan.

Local fans love "Lost." Last week, metro Detroit was the No. 1 TV market in the country for the hit Emmy-winning drama, says WXYZ-TV (Channel 7) programmer Marla Drutz. This week, it tied for No. 1 with Louisville, Ky.


And now a U-M subplot could keep the streak hot. "I think it's pretty cool," said "Lost" viewer Michael Sharkey, 35, of Lake Orion. "Anytime Michigan can be featured in any type of show, it adds a little hominess. ... Especially on such a popular show, it's always a positive."


This week's episode revealed a lot. (Alert: If you're waiting to watch it on TiVo, climb back into your hatch now.)


Key "Lost" characters learned that in 1970, two U-M doctoral candidates dreamed up the Dharma Initiative, a communal research compound for experiments in meteorology, parapsychology, electromagnetism, zoology (ah, that explains the polar bears!) and more.


Here's the weirdest part: Because of a mysterious "incident" at a research station on the island -- possibly linked to electromagnetic fluctuations -- somebody has to enter a numeric code into a grimy old computer and push a button every 108 minutes.


Why? Possibly to save the world.


The code is 4, 8, 15, 16, 23 and 42, which -- now this is scary -- adds up to 108.


A mysterious industrialist named Alvar Hanso funded the project, but he appears to be from Denmark, not Ann Arbor, so forget about him.


Why the U-M mention? The show's creators aren't talking. "They don't want to actually explain what they're doing," says ABC spokesperson Jeff Fordis.


U-M officials say they didn't know "Lost" would be giving them a shout-out, but they aren't that surprised.


"It's not a total surprise because we're known for our research," says Laura Lessnau, associate director of U-M News Service.


The idea of a utopian social science experiment coming out of the college in 1970 doesn't sound far-fetched to some alumni.


"There was a lot of radical stuff going on in the '70s at U-M," says Gary Kapanowski, 37, who's secretary of the University of Michigan Club of Greater Detroit. "It would either be us or Berkeley."


But the electromagnetism plot threat shouldn't worry viewers, says U-M professor Myron Campbell, chair of the physics department.


"This is Hollywood. This is not real," says Campbell. "This is a little bit like talking on 'Star Trek' about mixing matter and antimatter or with 'Star Wars' about how a light saber exists."


On Web sites devoted to "Lost," fans are floating theories about the new twists, including one that presumes the whole button set-up is a huge psychological experiment.


Fans also are visiting creepy-cool Web sites for Dharma Industries (www.dharmaindustries.com) and the Hanso Foundation (www.thehansofoundation.org), neat publicity stunts.


Even Michigan State University sounds gracious about its rival getting a "Lost" nod.


Says Gary Hoppenstand, professor of American studies at MSU, "I think it's entirely appropriate that U-M might have some connection to dystopia, which is an imperfect world."