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New FlashForward mystery: Was that a spaceship?
Now that everyone has had time to catch up on the latest episode of ABC's FlashForward and debate what they saw, we figure it's time to take a closer look at the ending in Somalia where ... something .... appeared in the sky.
The scene takes place in an area where a whole bunch of people suffered a blackout similar to the flash-forward, but this one happened back in 1991. A small shepherd boy watches a bunch of flying crows suddenly die and plummet to the ground, crests a hill, and sees bodies all over the ground, followed by something with the appearance of a cloud that looks sort of maybe like a ship.
To figure out what it might be, we eavesdropped on the fan debate over on ABC's site and have pulled together the list of possibilities so far:
Some kind of ship: The cloud is a ship, human or otherwise. Or it's the trail from a ship. This alleged ship emitted something or dropped some kind of bomb or otherwise did something that killed that crows. It may even be a Nazi ship, since the whole episode dealt with that cagey old Nazi in prison. Although these are all interesting theories, consensus from the audience is that the cloud isn't a ship, mostly because that would seem too obvious.
A nuclear explosion: The cloud came from a nuclear, or nuclear-like, explosion. True, some kind of explosive something-or-other (or emissions from an explosion ... see EMP below) may well have caused the crows to die in Somalia, but we also know crows later die around the world, and no explosions are reported. This one seems unlikely too.
An EMP pulse or solar flare: These theories come up regularly but are shot down pretty quickly, since they were ruled out by the characters themselves in the pilot. We guess it's still possible, and the first episode was throwing out a bit of misdirection, but it's not very dramatic or satisfying.
Discharge from the tower: The cloud-ship-thing is seen hovering over a strange tower, but could it have actually come from the tower? The theory here is that there may be some sort of plant or hidden complex underground housing ... er, something ... that caused the crows to die and the people to pass out. Or that the tower itself is emitting waves of something. Consensus seems to be the tower was just in the shot to give perspective, though.
It's a Higgs boson: In case you didn't know (we had to look it up), a Higgs boson is "a massive scalar elementary particle predicted to exist by the Standard Model in particle physics." Assuming the particle could be the size and shape of a cloud (doubtful!), this would certainly tie in to Rob Sawyer's book Flashforward, on which the show is based. No one lends this theory much credence, though, because the show seems to be taking pains not to repeat what happened in the book.
The inevitable Lost comparison: It's been noted by many that this "cloud" could be smoke, which is eerily similar to Lost's "smoke monster." Deliberate? Probably. Meaningful? Doubtful. There was no clankity-clank sound, after all.
The cloud is shaped like a crow: There is no actual theory here, but some viewers have noted that the cloud is vaguely shaped like a crow and a lot of crows die. We're including it just so we don't look foolish if there really is something to it.
Cloaked Goa'uld Death Glider: The cloud does bear a passing resemblance to the Goa'uld fighters from Stargate SG-1, but unless Richard Dean Anderson shows up as a guest star, we're going to have to say no.
Our best guess: None of the above. The cloud will almost surely turn out to be some kind of red herring, like most of the "clues" we've gotten so far. Or it's a nuclear crow ship that activates the tower, which in turn creates a Higgs boson solar flare on the island from Lost, where MacGyver is living in retirement.
By guitar at 5:37 PM ON 10/13/09
"Or it's a nuclear crow ship that activates the tower, which in turn creates a Higgs boson solar flare on the island from Lost where MacGyver is living in retirement." I'll go for that option.
By Siri Atiragram Lleof at 5:55 PM ON 10/13/09
My guess?
"Cloaked Goa'uld Death Glider: The cloud does bear a passing resemblance to the Goa'uld fighters from Stargate SG-1, but unless Richard Dean Anderson shows up as a guest star, we're going to have to say no."
Sounds plausible to me.
By Tennyson at 5:55 PM ON 10/13/09
I thought it was obviously discharge from the tower. Why the heck else is there a huge tower in the middle of a Somali village? It's not a mosque tower.
By Jim at 6:10 PM ON 10/13/09
It's King Ghidorah!!
By MandyJane at 6:24 PM ON 10/13/09
Looks like a Romulan warbird! (that's what I thought when I saw it the first time, lol)
By PixelBackWriter at 6:56 PM ON 10/13/09
Discharge from the tower: if you watch the shot in motion again, you can tell that the cloud is in the background, and the tower is more than likely there for perspective.
By JJD at 6:57 PM ON 10/13/09
I agree with Tennyson. I thought it was fairly clear that it was some sort of discharge from the tower. It emanated in a wave-like motion, from what I saw. It wasn't just there. And I think it would make the most sense if it were some sort of energy.
By Gizmo at 7:12 PM ON 10/13/09
I think it's a *drumroll* completely meaningless cloud that everyone is making a big fuss over.
By VichusSmith at 7:24 PM ON 10/13/09
I'm sorry, I'm not seeing a friggin' spaceship. People are trying too hard!
By Just zis guy see at 8:00 PM ON 10/13/09
Hint: That's a cellular communication tower. Cue global conspiracy theories in... 3... 2... 1...
By paramore at 8:03 PM ON 10/13/09
I read the book the show is based on & the plot has NOTHING to do with ALIENS. ***FYI Think Quantum Physics -everything you need to know can be explained through simple science
By andian at 8:17 PM ON 10/13/09
I'll bite- here's a theory the "flash forward" effect connects two periods of quantum disturbance occurring within the lifetimes of the individuals involved. ****having read the back of the book i can assume from what i read a pulse of neutrinos arrived from the remnant of supernova 1987A.-The remnant is not a neutron star, but a quark star, a superdense body of strange matter. Starquakes cause it to emit a neutrino pulse at unpredictable intervals. This "Cloud" is or could be a delayed visable physical manifestation of that.
By paramore at 8:23 PM ON 10/13/09
um...pretty much....you just gave everything away assuming they continue to follow the book-however the "flashfowards" were 21 years in the future not 6 months & revolves around the main character trying to prevent his own murder as well as a billionaire and his group of followers who is researching practical immortality, so realisticly i guess the show could be loosely based on the "Idea" exspecialy being that none of the characters are the same between the book 7 the show.
By bigbangtheory at 8:32 PM ON 10/13/09
Oddly, in the book no recording devices anywhere in the world functioned in the present during the event. Security camera tapes showed noise and even recording devices in television studios show nothing until the event is over. This can be interpreted as proof of the observer effect in quantum theory. However in the TV series there are characters who went uneffected by the event & were caught on video*****so it is not likely they will follow the book but so far but I truely doubt that cloud is a ship I agree with the idea that it is a visable but delayed physical "manifestation" of some "Quantum Event" conecting the two points of time.
By redfred at 9:25 PM ON 10/13/09
It is an Earth Fart
By Impy at 10:14 PM ON 10/13/09
It's Marlon Brando's wig from the original Superman movie!
By green11420 at 11:28 PM ON 10/13/09
It's over-thinking at work.
By John Turner at 2:59 AM ON 10/14/09
By robonerd at 5:11 AM ON 10/14/09
it's nothing. shows like this, like Lost and Alias and Fringe, don't have plots. they have a series of ongoing mysteries, one replacing the other in an overlapping, seemingly endless pattern. 'Answers' are considered 'conclusions', and the networks don't want tv shows that might be popular to end, thus depriving them of content and funding. it's the limitations of the medium that creates this. you either learn to enjoy the Art (or Artifice) of the show without attempting to glean insight to something that isn't there, or simply don't watch.
By Adamixoye at 6:39 AM ON 10/14/09
Count me in with Tennyson and JJD, it was pretty clearly a discharge of some kind from the tower. Not sure what this article is all about.
By Jamjumetley at 7:27 AM ON 10/14/09
It looks like some kind of a planet or a moon.
By Goatie at 8:12 AM ON 10/14/09
That's no moon... it's a hairpiece station.
By Glenbw at 8:22 AM ON 10/14/09
Perhaps, 'God Himself with a flowing beard' as mentioned by Marty in the final chapter of Chapterhouse: Dune? It's highly probable, I can say.
By vendetta at 9:17 AM ON 10/14/09
following andian, Bigbang & Paramore - if the book plot revolved around two periods of quantum disturbance occurring within the lifetimes of the individuals involved possibly a solar flare or supernova it is possible it could be a delayed physical "manifestation" of that same event due to the time it takes light to travel to earth but being no one on the show said anything about it . most-likely a cloud is just a cloud, not the right shape or direction to be a "discharge" from the very close tower
By Gabubu at 12:20 PM ON 10/14/09
I thought it was a like-nuclear-explosion sort f thing but then my mother said: 'What cloud?' So I'll go for her explanation and say it's the tower that matters.
By Hercules40 at 1:04 PM ON 10/14/09
You're all are thinking so hard, that you have physically manifested this cloud!
Simple really.
By kchenault at 1:08 PM ON 10/14/09
Having never watched the show, I will wager it is........a cloud, and only a cloud.
By bigalOSU at 1:39 PM ON 10/14/09
It's a mangetic pulse. Birds rely on magnetism ( a phenomenon known as magnetoception) during migration and that is why the crows died. The tower is what sends out the pulse in 1991 and satellites or something else sends it out in 2009. It is going to be the result of an attempt to visit alternate dimensions, through time, etc. The Flashforwards are alternate realities, as you can see in the vision of the guy who saw his daughter still alive, when in truth she wasn't. This smells like something similar to Fringe and it does not surprise me at all. This is another show i watch on HULU during lunch and it has not given me a reason to bump it up to DVR status.
MAGNETISM!
By muadib at 3:33 PM ON 10/14/09
It's a finger print on the camera lens.
By SethSJ at 5:11 PM ON 10/14/09
The MIB's say It's swamp gas. One looked like Will Smith.
By Linc78 at 6:20 PM ON 10/14/09
Something everyone seems to be missing is if you look far off to the left in the distance all the clouds seem to be moving away as well. Like a nuclear bomb went off. Now I'm not saying that's what happened but the clouds are moving away like they would from a big blast.
By mib815 at 9:10 PM ON 10/14/09
Maybe its the spirit god of all the birds, saying: Why are birds the only animal to die in everything?
By TheBladeRunner at 11:12 PM ON 10/14/09
I think it is the residue of the bomb set off at the end of last season's "Lost"
By crichton007 at 3:34 PM ON 10/15/09
Wait, how do you pronounce nuclear?
By MrL at 6:20 PM ON 10/23/09
My guess, that tower is a Linear Particle Accelerator.
By JDiD at 8:39 PM ON 03/05/10
You should all look up scalar warfare... I think its a transmitter of Longditudinal Electromagnetic waves for the purpose of world wide mind control... don't believe me? read this http://www.prahlad.org/pub/bearden/scalar_wars.htm
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JDiD:
You should all look up scalar warfare... I think its a transmitter of Longditudinal Electromagnetic waves for the p...More »