A huge storage facility with a supply for over 16 years? I don’t think oreos last that long.

As for the food, there are lots of ways that this could be done. They could have a huge storage facility anywhere on or near the island.

I think that people did leave the hatch and when they came back they wrote on the wall to show what they did for future people (like locke). They might also think that the “map” located on the door during lock-down would prevent them from getting in trouble per sa, since it hides itself and the people they are protecting the map from would never be in the lock down. So the “door’s” a logical hiding place for a map which makes me believe the map is from past castaways like flight 815.

I still think the PRD was from a plane. Dharma can’t have a manufacturing plant on the island, a shipment would be noticeable and unless you believe they have food stored in another location on the island rationed for eternitya plane only makes sense.

I still haven’t heard a good explanation for why the blast doors coming down would need to happen because of the food drop. Even the one I mentioned above (shielding the hatch from detection by any plane - not just the supply plane) I don’t really think is completely solid.

It doesn’t make sense at all that it would be for locking people inside the hatch while the drop is taking place, because what if they are outside when it happens? Or even in another room down there, since we don’t know whether all the rooms were locked down or just that one.

As for the writings, I do strongly suspect that there have been previous occupants of “the hatch” that knew as little about it as Locke and the rest of the survivors do now.

I still think it’s from a plane because the parachute attached to it and the producers all-but confirming it as a plane drop in the podcast.

Also I dont think that the blast doors are programed to close at set intervals because of the PRD note: “P.R.D.:every 6-8 months�. The doors couldnt be on a schedule to close because of the 6 to 8 month time frame for the drop, unless the person who wrote the note was unsure and was aproxamating from the last drop.

I also agree that the blast doors could be to prevent who ever is in the hatch from seeing the means of delivery of the rations. I think when Saiyd? noticed the blast doors, there were more than just those doors around the kitchen/whatever that area is. Right? Which would lock down the whole hatch. They are probably activated through that huge cable that comes out of the sea. Though the map did say somthing about a system wide failure of the the dharmatel intranet. By Satelite? Or radio signal from the plane. (its funny that we all refer to it by its affectionate name “The Hatch” when thats just how your enter it. Its more of a compound or a bunker.)

Assuming the doors are there to prevent them from viewing the means of the rations getting there, maybe they werent droped at all maybe they were deliverd there by someone on the island. Maybe by the “others” who could be part of Dharmatel. There could be a supply ship that delivers them. If you say islands port is too small the could off load it at sea to their smaller vesel. But thats just wild speculation.

As for the Polar Bears (there were two wernt there?), I think they were deffinitly placed on the island for some experiment because of this note off the map:“STATED GOAL, REPATRIATION ACCELERATED DE-TERRITORIALIZATION OF URSUS MARITIMUS THROUGH GENE THERAPY AND EXTREME CLIMATE CHANGE�. Maybe the pole shifting experiment or another experiment that goes along with it, which is what it sounds like. Ursus Maritimus is latin for polar bear.