TVSquad

Since Lost premiered about 4 years ago, fans have been active in coming up with theories (include the now-famous time loop theory) to explain the mysteries of the show. From the start, producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse have debunked a few of the most popular theories (e.g., they are in purgatory) and hinted that others may be legit.

To help fans discuss theories and propose their own, USA Today's website devotes a section to fans' Lost theories. With these theories in hand, USA Today turned to Darlton (that's the common nickname for Damon and Carlton) to see if any could be accurate.

Below are summaries of two of the theories presented on the site and what Darlton had to say.

The diabolical experiment. Matthew Abbadon gains control of Aaron once he's off the island. Aaron eventually works in an Area-52-type of military laboratory. A powerful experiment goes awry and Aaron is trapped in another dimension, eternally unstuck from space-time. This "trapped between times" Aaron is known as Jacob and everything that happens on the show is Aaron's effort to alter the flow of events. Darlton love this theory because it's time-travel related and claims that Aaron is Jacob. This is similar to when people thought that Michael was in fact the grown-up version of Walt. Damon says that they are not dealing in paradox on the show and try to limit themselves. Carlton says that this theory is on the right track space-time wise but some of the specifics of it are not quite right.

Dharma chameleon. Ms. Hawking was a former Swan worker and developed the same ability Desmond has. She accidentaly got this ability during the original incident. She survived by finding her constant - Brother Campbell - and left the island. After leaving the island, her visions developed, and she has seen what needs to take place in order for Dharma to regain control of the island. Her visions include a complicated pattern of people that are required to be on the island in order for a set series of events to occur for Dharma to return to the island. With the help of others, including Christian Shephard, Richard Malkin, Nadia and Libby, the group ensures that specific people are on the plane in order for the series of events to occur. Desmond must reach the island to cause Flight 815 to crash; Locke must locate the hatch to keep Desmond alive. Desmond must influence Charlie to turn off the jamming device. Jack calls the freighter. Carlton says that this evolved theory has a lot of information that is pretty close to the mark. He adds that Darlton can't comment on it much because there's a lot of details in the theory that are pretty accurate. Supposedly, this theorist will feel superior when watching Season 5 but will have his spirits crushed when Season 6 proves the theory wrong.