http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PPCCcXarkc
Ok, so let's say the video I (and many other people) unearthed is a real part of the show. Bear with me, we need to assume it's "canon" in order to discuss its context within the show. I'm thinking out loud here, to spur discussion forgive me if not everything makes sense.
Now, the date on the original D.H.A.R.M.A. video is 1972. It's been established that the LOSTies are "in" September or October of 2004. Even though it's been over 2 years for the viewer, it's been less than sixty days for the castaways.
If we assume that Rosseau wasn't lying, she's been on the island for 16 years. We can assume that since she arrived with a decent-sized research team, and no one saw any overt D.H.A.R.M.A. activity, that Wacky's assertion is correct; the hatches are all linked via an underground (maybe even underwater) system of tunnels.
Here's something interesting: If Rosseau has been on the island for 16 years, that would put her arrival time around 1988. Which is exactly 16 years from the time the hatches were "opened" and the experiments were started. Does this mean anything? We'll see.
Now, the really interesting part is that Rosseau claimed that when her people went to the other side of the island, they came back "infected". In the video purportedly recorded by "Rachel Blake", a scientist is seen explaining that the D.H.A.R.M.A. project has failed to change any of the integers of Valenzetti's equation. The scientist then speaks of infecting local tribesmen, with a cull rate of 30%. Anything more or less spells failure for the project. At least one of the scientists present raises moral and ethical concerns over the project, but the speaker shoots him down.
So....what if this "Racheal Blake" video is not from 2004, but is actually from 1988?!? I know video cams were much more primitive then, but we don't actually see the person filming things. What if "Rachael Blake" unearthed this video from someone else? What if Rosseau's people were "infected" by the Hanso foundation (backers of the D.H.A.R.M.A. Initiative) some 16 years ago?!?! What if "The Others" are really the last of the D.H.A.R.M.A. scientists who fought off the Hanso people and eventually took back the hatches? It might explain why the "medical" hatch was so damaged.
Hmmmm...interesting thoughts that just popped into my head, sometimes the most intuitive stuff happens like that!
What do you all think???