Lost Numbers are GPS coordinates

I’m just passing this meme along, but several people seem to think that the Lost numbers may be GPS coordinates.

TV Squad makes that claim, linking to Google Maps in the process.

Sarah Hatter, via her Flickr account, does likewise (though not on her blog).

Here are screen-caps from both Mapquest and Google:

Lost GPS Map

Lost GPS Map

Here are the coordinates, if you want to do it yourself:

4.815 162.342
+4° 48′ 54.00″, +162° 20′ 31.20″

What do you think? Could this be 1,000 miles off course on a flight from Sydney to Los Angeles?

Don’t forget, I’m selling Dharma Initiative T-shirts!

UPDATE: See the newest map and help with my Lost island(s) mapping project!

20 thoughts on “Lost Numbers are GPS coordinates

  1. Lurker says:

    perhaps…
    i cannot decide whether or not i want them to be dead or alive…the pragmatist in me boths wants and despises it…myriad of contradictions…i know you, by the way. i check your blog out frequently, and rather enjoy it. never knew how into jim henson you were, though…

  2. Heath says:

    I used the Great Circle Mapper and yes I think it is very possible those are the coordinates of the island as the flight path is well to the east of this point on the map.

  3. producers says:

    the producers said they are not dead. it is not a dream. they promised they would not mess with us like that.

    the whole premise of the show is a mcguffin, an excuse to teach us life lessons…tell us great stories of overcoming adversity basically.

    which is what makes it great!

  4. If they were dead, supporting theories about them being in limbo and so on, Claire wouldn’t have had the baby. Youself image wouldnt change. So for the duration of Lost she would have to be pregnant which could have been cool but…

  5. Brad says:

    This is completely wrong! The flight path (if you sensibly look at it) is well south of this. At the very least, it is somewhat South. It is virually impossible to be headed to LA from Sydney and be North of this mark.

    That would be fine, because we all know they were 1,000 miles off course. But here is the key… the pilot said the flight turned toward Fiji! Thus it turned and went 1,000 miles off course in THAT direction. In this case, that direction would have to be south. And thus they would have been having to travelling wayyy north of where that map has it, which is not even close to the flight path for a plane heading to LA. It would be more sensible for a flight path heading straight north to, like, China.

  6. Brad says:

    This is completely wrong! The flight path (if you sensibly look at it) is well south of this. At the very least, it is somewhat South. It is virually impossible to be headed to LA from Sydney and be North of this mark.

    That would be fine, because we all know they were 1,000 miles off course. But here is the key… the pilot said the flight turned toward Fiji! Thus it turned and went 1,000 miles off course in THAT direction. In this case, that direction would have to be south. And thus they would have been having to travelling wayyy north of where that map has it, which is not even close to the flight path for a plane heading to LA. It would be more sensible for a flight path heading straight north to, like, China.

  7. jimbo says:

    This assumes that the geographic coordinates are N4.815, W162.342. But there are actually 3 more possible coordinate pairs in the other 3 quadrants …
    S4.815, W162.342, N4.815 E162.342, S4.815 E162.342. Perhaps one of these locations is closer to 1k from the flightpath?

  8. Karmencita says:

    Brad:

    If the navigation system was ‘off’ enough to send them 1,000 miles off-course, isn’t it also conceivable that it would steer them in the wrong direction so they’d be headed north instead of south?

  9. jennifer says:

    Lost is a TV show.. you know, they tape scene by scene. Even my chlidren understand not all tv is real. Especailly a show that started by saying ” this is not a reality tv show”. I believe if you are smart enough to figure these things out, maybe you should put that knowledge to more compelling issues. Use you brain for more prroductive things. PLEASE>>>>>>

  10. Jennifer, thanks for the comment and the advice.

    I would suggest that you put more energy into using your brain for the same purpose instead of commenting on my blog.

    🙂

  11. Great forum! I love this idea. S4.815, W162.342 looks like a better match as jimbo suggested. It is in line with a (shortest line) flight path from Sydney to LA, which seems reasonable. This flight path would cross VERY close to Fiji. This would create a closer match to the story given by the pilot that they “turned back” to land in Fiji. The only problem is that if the plane were 1000 miles closer to LA on the line than these coordinates then the plane would have been significantly closer to Honolulu, HI than Fiji. If the plane were in trouble the closest airstrip should be the best choice. But still I think these coordinates make more sense than N4.815, W162.342. The other two possibilities are further from the flight path an and closer to a better place to land.

    By the way: While these are certainly “GPS” coordinates they are more correctly designated geographic coordinates. Longitude and Latitude have defined locations on earth long before the GPS satellite constellation existed. 🙂

    From a Lost Addict

  12. One more thing … and maybe purposefully frustrating (just like the show!) is the fact that any one of these 4 possible interpretations of the coordinates N-S-E-W is ‘reasonably’ close the flight path between Sydney and LA. This is a very compelling argument toward a meaning of the number sequence 4 8 15 16 23 42.

    From a Lost Addict

  13. jordan says:

    The nearest island to those coordinates is kosrae in mirconesia and this island has a reasonable sized village and an air strip. Somehow i dont think these numbers are the coordinates

  14. Sara says:

    Has anyone heard of the Bermuda Triangle? There is a theory that the Bermuda Triangle is connected through the Earth and comes out on the other side and this is called The Dragon’s Triangle. I watched a special on this Dragon’s Triangle a few months ago and immediately thought of LOST and that just HAS to be where they are.

  15. thomas says:

    +4° 8′ 15.00″, +16° 23′ 42.00″

    these coordinates are in africa… thats where ben was sent and the polar bear…

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