Epic Guide|Mostly Harmless

The key to understanding numerous questions on the island is reincarnation. The “others” could be a wealthy religious minority (some people might call them a “cult” but if I had a following, they would know that I don’t like that word). They set up these experiments in the name of the teaching of the Buddha (aka Dharma), specifically samsara (the cycles of rebirth). The “others” have found a way to trap the spirits of the deceased, and then they inject them in animals (the frog, the horse, the bore) and also children (which is why the “others” go for children). Apparently it didn’t work with adults since Russeau’s group ended up getting “the disease”. I think those numbers are somehow related to the technology that is able to control these supernatural phenomena. It also explains how a science experiment could be done with no regard for its subjects’ well-being. Any legit science experiment would end once the first person died. But one conducted by religious adherents could value their experiments more than human life (especially if they believed themselves to control the spirits after the people died) I’m not sure if the plane actually crashed or not, but it doesn’t really matter because somehow the survivors are all connected to the spirits that the “others” are experimenting with.

Also it kind of explains the book “the turn of the screw” which is about ghosts affecting reality.

Anyways, this is just a theory, and it’s kind of complicated, but as far as I can tell, it’s the only one I know of that encompasses the science aspect, as well as the supernatural aspect of the show.