Transmissions
Deus Ex Machina

Boone's S.O.S. Transmission

It is hotly debated as to what Boone heard. Interpretations are below.

• Boone told Jack about the plane and the hatch before he died, but he didn't mention the radio. (DNH)

  Quote:

  BOONE: It fell on me. JACK: What fell? BOONE: The plane. It was the plane. JACK: Boone. Boone, Locke said you fell from a cliff. BOONE: No. No. It was...it fell. The plane. (his voice fades) It's 'cause of the hatch. We found a hatch. JACK: Boone, Boone! Stay with me, man. Hey. Stay with me! BOONE: Locke said... John said... John said ... not to tell ... about the hatch. JACK: What did Locke do? What hatch? What are you ... ? Excerpted from Do No Harm, written by Janet Tamaro

  
  
  
• Locke shows up at Boone's funeral and tries to explain what happened, and he mentions the radio (TGG):
  

  Quote:

  LOCKE: It was my fault. We found a plane, a Beechcraft, in the jungle. It was lodged in the canopy so - I would have gone up, but I - my leg was hurt so he - there was a radio inside and he thought he could - look, his weight must have made the plane shift and it fell - and - it happened because he was trying to help us. He was a hero. exerpt from The Greater Good written by: Leonard Dick

  
  
• Sayid asks Locke if Boone was able to pick up a signal while he was in the beechcraft before it fell. Locke lies and tells him he heard only static (TGG)...
   

Quote:

Sayid - The plane's radio? Was Boone able to pick up a signal? Locke - I was on the ground, all I could here was static. Sayid - But it was working? Locke - Yeah, but I can't imagine it survived the fall. Sayid - Some of its parts might work in the transmitter I'm building for the raft. If you'd be willing to take me? Locke - Of course. exerpt from The Greater Good written by: Leonard Dick


From Answers.com Furthermore, when Boone tried to send a Mayday radio message in "Deus Ex Machina", he identified himself as a survivor of Oceanic Flight 815, but a garbled voice on the radio stated, in a surprised tone, that "there were no survivors of Oceanic Flight 815" (according to the closed-captioning). This would help explain the absence of a search and rescue mission. Why outsiders believe there were no survivors, and whether or not Boone may have changed their opinion, remains to be seen.

It is important to note, however, that this single line has caused considerable debate. Some people have claimed that the voice on the radio says "we're the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815", even though the closed-captions do not support this. The problem rests with the audio of the line itself. In the episode, as originally aired, the voice seems to say "there were no survivors of Oceanic Flight 815." Later, in a recap video clip on the ABC.com website posted on April 1st (April's fools day) and in subsequent show previews on the ABC network, the audio clearly says "we're the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815." However, the audio from ABC seems to have been reedited and possibly redubbed, as the voice in the previews sounds markedly different from that heard in the episode. Consequently, the question of what the voice on the radio actually said is currently a matter of some debate among Lost fans.

In a recent interview with TVGuide (May 29, 2005), Damon Lindelof stated that the line heard on the radio was in fact "We're the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815." Lindelof also reminded readers that this was also what Boone radioed over, "so it's up to extrapolation as to whether or not his own words were being bounced back to him." It should be noted that none of the previous lines that Boone said bounced back.

Regardless of what was said, Boone's radio conversation in "Deus Ex Machina" makes clear that there is at least one person within the radio's range who can communicate over radio. It is unknown whether this transmission came from survivors from the tail-end of the plane, a member of "The Others," or someone else, since the radio's range is not known.
See also:
Locke's Prophetic Dream


Update on Boone's Transmission

In Season 2, The Other 48 Days, we find out that it was actually the tail-enders talking to Boone. The tailies had found a radio in the second hatch and kept trying to get a signal. Finally Bernard heard somebody:


Quote:

Boone (on radio): Hello. Hello, anybody out there? Mayday. Mayday. Bernard: Is there someone there? Boone: Hello! Hello! Cindy: Who is that? Oh my god! Boone: Can you hear me? Bernard: Repeat your transmission, please. Boone: Hello. We're the survivors of the crash of Oceanic flight 815. Please copy. Bernard: We're the survivors of flight 815. Excerpt from The Other 48 Days, written by Carlton Cuse & Damon Lindelof



So now we know what the other side of the story is. Case Closed!