Michael Dawson

For a brief chronicle of the "happenings so far", see Timeline - The Lost Experience

This article details the various clues related to The Lost Experience.

The Lost Experience is an alternate reality game (ARG) designed by the writers and producers of Lost to engage fans and expand the storyline. The game was co-developed by three TV companies, America's ABC, Australia's Seven Network and the United Kingdom's Channel 4.

The first clue was released on different dates in different countries with the commonality of a phone number provided in a fake advertisement in episodes of Lost. The phone number directed the game player to the first website, and provided the password to solve the first of many clues.

This article will outline the clues in chronological order, based on the U.S. dates, and provide detailed solutions to each clue as they are solved.

Spoiler alert!

Prior to 5 May

Logged in at http://thehansofoundation.org

Joop's webmaze

Persephone's message

These images appear in Joop's webcam

Man's face behind Joop. This face is in "About MHA" page too (Mental Health Appeal in Actives Projects)

Hidden location on the world map, enhanced.

See Hanso Phone Line

The website thehansofoundation.org was revealed by calling the phone line provided in the adverts.

General

• The progress/loading animation displays the numbers
• The bottom left-hand corner, just outside the white content box, has a hidden button that moves the site's background "glowing globes"
• Other symbols are revealed; relevance not yet determined.
• Many of the images used on the site are stock photos. For example, the picture at the top of the Mental Health Appeal section is from Getty Images. The image of Alvar Hanso is not a stock photo.
• Checking the source reveals the URL: http://djdan.am/

Clearing the Flash Cache

The site does not use traditional cookies or an IP tracker to track your session - instead it uses the Shared Objects persistence solution built into the Flash player.

• If you want to reset your state with the site, you can close your browser, clear your Flash session and then revisit the site.
  • On Mac OS X this is stored in a folder called www.thehansofoundation.org somewhere within the folder tree <Username>/Library/Preferences/Macromedia/Flash Player/#SharedObjects (possibly under an additional unique ID folder).
  • On Windows this is stored in a folder called C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\Macromedia\Flash Player\#SharedObjects. It may be under a unique ID folder in that folder.
    • Bear in mind that as the game continues, you may need to redo an entire set of actions to reach the current "status".

Newsletter

• When trying to subscribe to the newsletter, Persephone contacts you and asks for a password
  • The password is 'breaking strain'
  • After inputting the password, you "get logged in" and Persephone has a quick "chat" with you
  • You can "login" again by subscribing the newsletter, but Persephone isn't "online" after the first time. You are told you have no new messages, and then booted from the "chat".
  • After logging out, you will see flashes of Joop in an altered state (see Newsletter.)

Joop's Corner

• In Joop's Corner, you can leave messages to Joop.
• Once you have completed the chat with Persephone, you access a webmaze no matter what message you leave.
  • The webmaze, which appears to be 'mapping' the brain of an orangutan, is similar to the ones on the Oceanicflight815.com site. A red bar with a green triangle also moves around the background of Joop's picture every time the image refreshes.
  • When you finish the maze, you see some Hanso correspondence (See Hanso Correspondence for images and text).
    • The first correspondence is a "flashlighted" letter from Global Welfare Consortium to CDC about The Hanso Foundation's experiments in Tanzania. The letter is signed by Jacques Maillot, director general of GWC executive committee. The letter is dated 19 September 2005.
    • After clicking the signature to the letter, you get a "flashlighted" version of another letter, again from GWC to CDC which apologizes about the previous letter, and reassures the CDC regarding Hanso's operations in Tanzania. It also mentions that the person who wrote the first letter has been relieved of his position. This letter is signed by Peter Thompson, Acting Director General of GWC. The letter is dated 25 September 2005.
      • Further clicking produces a slightly moderated version of the second letter, and an audio and handwritten message saying "The Hanso foundation, setting world speed records for subverting authority."

Other features

• Right below the text in the top-right box, there is a hidden text field. So far, this has no use.
• There is also a hidden picture of a man's face in Joop's Corner. This picture is hidden behind Joop's webcam and can be seen by changing the brightness and contrast of a screenshot, taken before the webcam picture appears.
  • This person is the same man that is in the picture at the top of the Mental Health Appeal section.
• There is a text box by Joop's hand which may or may not be a coding error. Entering various texts at this time does not result in any changes.

Mental Health Appeal

• In the Mental Health Appeal page, clicking on the Inquire Today button will bring up a Tell Us More About Yourself text box. Entering information at this time returns the message 'Sorry connection timed out'.
  • There is a hidden button on the top right hand corner of the text box.
    • That button appears to have just the same function as the "Next"-button under the text box.
  • There is another hidden button below and to the right of Alvar Hanso's quote.
    • Seems to have the same function as the "Inquire Today!" button.
• The man on the top photo of this section is the man seen in Joop's webcam.

Worldwide Wellness and Prevention Program

• If you access the Press Release in the Worldwide Wellness and Prevention Development Program, the word "miracle" in the second paragraph turns your mouse into a hand when moved over it. The asfunction:miracleLink does not function at this time.

World Map

• In the World map on the site, there is a hidden spot, located near Bermuda, which displays garbled characters and some sequences of numbers when moused-over.
  • If you "translate" the numbers to the alphabet, it spells "missing organs".

Mathematical Forecasting Initiative

• In the Mathematical Forecasting Initiative, there are three place names that are whited out.
  • The First is referred to as "the developing African Nation of ________". Using the flash 'zoom in' feature reveals that this can only be Zambia.
  • The second and third blanks are more easily linked, as 3 is the capitol of 2. Blank number 2 seems to start with an M, and Blank number 3 seems to end in an O. By those criteria, the closest matches found on Wikipedia are:
    • Monaco, Monaco
    • Maputo, Mozambique

Theories

• Jacques Maillot probably lost his position as the director general of GWC due to the first letter.
  • The "Meningitis Belt" is an area in sub-Saharan Africa which stretches from Senegal in the west to Ethiopia in the east in which large epidemics of meningococcal meningitis occur. The letters might indicate that the Hanso Foundation has been experimenting with primates, trying to find a cure to these epidemics.
    • From the wikipedia entry on meningococcus: "Septicaemia ("blood poisoning") has received much less public attention, but has been linked to infant deaths. Whilst there may be an absence of the classical meningitis symptoms, the presence of a non-blanchable purpuric rash is easily ignored by those not aware of its significance."
      • Survivors of meningococcal commonly required amputated limbs. (Theory: See Marvin Candle)
    • The letters are strange, though, in that meningococcus is a bacterium, NOT a virus. Meningitis can be caused by a virus, so it is unclear whether this is a clue or just some imprecise research.

Some other observations.

• Notice the text under the signature for Peter Thompsons reply. It refers to the "Global Health Consortium". If you look at the letter head, you will notice it should read "Global Welfare Consortium".
• Also, both letters have the same "stain" behind the text. It could be a handprint? Or does all GWC paperwork have stains?
• The stain exists on letters across the spectrum. Could the "stain" be a tire track? Or an extremely large fingerprint? Is it related to the scribbles somehow?

5 May 2006

There is a press release added to the main page: http://thehansofoundation.org/press/05_05_06.pdf.

• Hidden content can be found by selecting all the text, revealing a link at the bottom of the page: http://persephone.thehansofoundation.org/
  • The contents of that site were, until 7th May, the following list of numbers:
    • 106 98 111 32 117 98 115 32 114 115 110 102 32 102 118 32 102 118 101 71 32 49 32 108 110 90 32 116 117 98 46 83 69 71 32 103 110 32 111 118 32 116 98 73
      • This is ASCII code, reading:
        • jbo ubs rsnf fv fveG 1 lnZ tub. SEG gn ov tbI
        • To decipher, first rotate all vowels by 3 (The phrase "aeiouy" would become "ouyaei") which yields:
          • jba ebs rsnf fv fvuG 1 lnZ teb.SUG gn av tbY
        • Which when ROT13 decoded reads:
          • won rof efas si sihT 1 yaM gro.FHT ta ni goL
        • When reversed this reads:
          • Log in at THF.org May 1 This is safe for now
        • Since the game officially began May 5th, clearly the date "May 1" must be incorrect. It is currently unclear how the number '1' should be decoded.
        • If using ROT18 instead of ROT13, for instance, the message is exactly the same, except the 1 becomes a 6. Yet for most of the Earth, it is already May 7, and nothing new seems to have been discovered. This may have something to do with the Press release, which says someone is hacking the site.
        • THF.org refers to TheHansoFoundation.org

7 May 2006

The string of numbers quoted on Persephone's webpage was changed to:

• 72 65 83 32 87 73 78 32 72 79 83 84 32 80 67 32 73 78 32 78 73 76 32 85 82 71 69 46 32 56 44 32 110 111 116 32 49 32 97 110 100 32 54 46
  • Converting this from decimal numbers into ASCII characters, using an online converter gives the textual string
    • HAS WIN HOST PC IN NIL URGE. 8, not 1 and 6.
  • Anagrams include:
    • WHO IS RUNNING THIS PLACE. 8, not 1 and 6
    • SIGN IN WITH HANSO PR CLUE. 8, not 1 and 6.
    • CHRISTIAN HELPING US NOW. 8, not 1 and 6.
    • LOGIN HUNCH WAS PRISTINE. 8, not 1 and 6.
    • LOGIN HUNCH WAS INEPT SIR. 8, not 1 and 6.
      • Either may relate to the word "miracle", found as an empty link in the Worldwide Wellness and Prevention Development Program Press Release.
  • The 8 not 1 and 6 may be to clarify confusion stating 8 May, rather than 1 May or 6 May.
• Mail sent to the email address on the press release, hugh.mcintyre@thehansofoundation.org, used to bounce but recently people have been reporting getting replies. Note: a formatting error in the Press Release (part of the phone number run against the first name) causes the mailto tag to misdirects emails to mcintyre@thehansofoundation.org; this is also an invalid address.
  • Other corporate addresses such as peter.thompson@thehansofoundation.org and alvar.hanso@thehansofoundation.org also bounce.

8 May 2006

This was activated on 8 May 2006 (As revealed by the press release)

Visit the Executive Bios section

• Go to the article about Alvar Hanso.
  • Under the grayish picture, October 28, 2003 is hyperlinked.
• Click this link to reveal a message from Persephone
  • "Notice the grainy far away picture?" and the date is circled several times
• Click the link again to reveal another message from Persephone
  • "It doesn't match anyone else?"
• Click the link again to zoom the view to a satellite view of Western Europe with flight paths drawn over it in white. Each flight path ends at a European city with a date. Persephone reveals a message that her research indicates these locations and dates are places and times that Alvar Hanso has been sighted in person. Those dates are:

14.06.2000 - London

12.11.2000 - Copenhagen

23.02.2001 - Paris

12.07.2001 - Geneva

18.09.2001 - Roma

01.01.2001 - Copenhagen

31.12.2002 - Madrid

• Click on the dates that flash to reveal subsequent dates and Persephone's next message:

PERSEPHONE: THIS IS THE

LAST RECORD I FOUND OF

ANY PUBLIC APPEARANCE OF

ALVAR HANSO

THE MAN HASN'T BEEN SEEN

IN PUBLIC SINCE 2002!!!

Then there is some flickering Text displayed:

IS HE HIDING?

WHO IS RUNNING THIS PLACE?

ALVAR HANSO WAS NEVER THERE.

A female voiceover (the same one from the phone message on Alvar Hanso's line) asks:

Where is Alvar Hanso?

Is he hiding?

Who is running this place anyway?

After few moments, a black screen appears with a blinking green dot and a beeping noise in Morse code:

... .- ..-. . --. which translates to SAFE G

9 May 2006

SpriteTeaser Java Script (name revealed in 'view source')

Look at the clock...

Persephone?

'CalTech' transcript

Another Version?
(May 10 2006)

2630 appears at the bottom of the screen

• Access Executive Bios as of 9 May 2006
  • Every 15th and 42nd minute of the hour the clock reads "OB:EY" instead of the time.
• Click the clock to be sent to:

http://www.subLYMONal.com/

• (The Lostpedia article is located at sublymonal.com)
  • Trivia: LYMON and OBEY (part of the marketing campaign obey your thirst) are registered trademarks of Sprite (a product of The Coca-Cola Company).
• As each monitor lights up, click it repeatedly. The number of times you have to click each monitors corresponds to the numbers. When you have finished with a monitor, it will remain lit, and the circle will turn counter clockwise.
  • When all six monitors are static, they will swirl into miniature and the scene will change to a single bright monitor. The screen of the monitor will have a wavy line with the new code appearing 'subliminally':
    • code: Heir Apparent
  • There will all be a message below the image stating
    • 'sublymonal message unlocked'
• Click the link below the message to be taken back to
  • Alvar Hanso's bio

http://thehansofoundation.org/index.html#section=bios

• The time will now read normal
  • Click on Thomas Mittlewerk's bio
  • Enter 'heir apparent' into the new text box
    • A movie will appear in the center with a woman in a hospital dressing gown standing in a doorway.
      • As the movie begins, the time and date in the top left hand corner of the screen change to 21:12, 05/04/06. This may, however, be an accident.
    • The number 2630 can be faintly seen at the bottom of the screen.
  • Click the woman
    • A copy of a 1990 CalTech transcript will appear
  • Click 'Tuition and Fee Schedule Contract' above the red underline.
    • A new message from Persephone appears (she reads the last three sentences as they appear):
      • 'Caltech has no record of this guy in their Alumni database! He's never made a tuition payment. does he even have a college degree? Why does he call himself a "Doctor"? of what? Who is this clown?'
    • Hidden in the transcript behind the blue and red boxes are the words:
      • "Gary Troup knows too much" and "he must be silenced".
  • Activating this sequence on May 10th reveals a slightly different document, in which both cross-out boxes are red and no text is visible through them.
• (Clicking another bio, then back to Mittlewerk's, the viewer can repeat the above steps to review the clue)

12 May 2006

• Hugh McIntyre has released another press release to the President of Hyperion Books (from 9 May 2006), demanding them to cease selling Gary Troup's Bad Twin - See Hanso Correspondence (press release PDF)
• Why is the directory, where it was located on the Hanso site, named "Paris"?
  • A second directory is named "London" (currently empty).

16 May 2006

• Hidden in the HTML source code of the thehansofoundation.org website is an embedded clue to another website djdan.am. The DJ Dan site appears to the website for a radio station DJ that specializes in conspiracy theories. As you drill into the site, it appears this month's topic is Alvar Hanso. The 5/16 podcast [1] talks about Alvar at length. Dan calls Hanso a "Weapons Dealer" turned "Mad Scientist". According to an "inside Hanso Foundation source" of Dan's, Alvar is currently cryogenically frozen in a lab outside Phoenix.
  • Some of the images on the front page of the DJ site resemble pictures used in the Lost Experience game (Joop, the Hanso Foundation symbol).
• The persephone.thehansofoundation.org site now displays a short message (115 116 97 110 100 98 121), which when translated to ASCII reads 'standby'.

17 May 2006

Hidden picture

Screen shot of login screen

• On the Electromagnetic Research Initiative page of the Hanso Foundation website, the date of the Aurora Borealis picture has changed to October 62, 9291 and the upper left corner of the picture displays coordinates of your cursor. Use your mouse to find the coordinates: X: 629, Y: 291 (which are located at the center of the graph to the right of the aurora image); a hidden link is revealed:

http://www.letyourcompassguideyou.com

• The title of the site reads "Permissum Vestri Complector Rector Vos" which is Latin for "Let Your Compass Guide You."
• Moving the mouse to a position just outside the compass, around SSE (see image), reveals an image bearing the code "DI 9FFTR 731", the same code found on the food items in The Swan.
• A link can be found on the number "108", which brings users to a screen resembling a Unix shell terminal. The screen resembles a log-in procedure, ending with the prompt "Are you one of the good ones (Y,N)?"
  • "No" sends you back to The Main Site.
  • "Yes" redirects you to a list of user directories
• Following through to the user directories' link, there are several directories available with what appear to be Hanso employee names.
  • One of these is JGranger (possibly Janelle Granger, but access is not allowed at this time)
• At this time, only three allow access:
  • Peter Thompson's directory, /mail
    • There is binary code in Peter Thompson's mail inbox which translates to "The Mouth Piece", the password for the log in box on Hugh McIntyre's page on the Hanso Foundation website.
      • There are various documents related to purchasing 23 Jeeps, 2007 model, including a 6 page Request for Purchase, a 2 page Fleet Contract, and a Memo rescinding the contract. Several details on the documents have been blacked-out, including a detail in reference to an incident on the Memo. (Can be viewed here.
  • Hugh McIntyre's directory, /mail
    • There is a clipping of the newspaper statement from the Hanso Foundation regarding Bad Twin novel.
      • Closer inspection of the image shows part of a reversed message; "If you are one, know one" and "Happy Mother's Day". Underneath the first part of the message is another word(s), however the main body text of the release has obscured it.
        • This may simply be reversed images from the other side of the newspaper page; bleed-through images from scanning.
    • There is an old Jeep advertisement, which has a picture of a Buddha. Next to this picture, the words 'The Mouth Piece' have been added.
      • The filename of the image "139191991471518711419" is the same set of numbers that appear on the World Map in the WWPDP section and translates to "missing organs" when you replace numbers for letters (1 = a, etc).
    • There is also a link to a short TV advertisement (hosted on YouTube.com) for a model of jeep known as the CJ-7.
      • At the end of the footage is the DHARMA Logo (for The Door) with "ECHO ME UTEP HIT" an anagram for "the mouthpiece", above the logo, and permissum vestri complector rector vos below the logo.
        • This jeep was produced from 1976-1980 (Wikipedia article).
    • There is a copy of Peter Thompson's signature, with the red circle around it as found in one of the letters that Persephone revealed.
  • There is a typo in McIntyre's custom .logout script, such that any files he deletes will be saved in his /bak directory. The only ones known are dcx_rfp.doc and dcx_contract.doc, both of which will redirect you to Peter Thompson's files.
  • Alvar Hanso's directory
    • Clicking on this will return you to the main site.

http://thehansofoundation.org

Receipt from McIntyre's love nest

• Hugh McIntyre's picture in the Executive Bio has been changed to a "?". Entering "the mouthpiece" reveals another "hack" from Persephone with more information about McIntyre and his mistress.
• After Persephone's message (and loading of 'London_capture 5/17/2006', which is a short movie), there will be images 'falling' from the top of the screen (money, credit cards, diamonds, pill capsules, receipts). Clicking on some of the receipt images reveals two static pictures:
  • The first receipt is from the Hotel La Dolce Vita, Broad Str 8-10, WIC2HU(?), London

  Bill
  Love suite, 2 Nights, 17.03.2006-19.03.2006                 1200,£
  Moet & Chandon 1979, 4 Bottles on Ice                        400,£
  Special room services: Dolce vita DLX Breakfast in bed       200,£
  Spa Services
  Full woman beauty treatment                                  315,£
  Personal Beauty Assistant 2h private treatment               320,£
  La Dolce Shop
  Cartier ear accessories, 24 karat                           3685,£
  Prada, travel back, pour elle                               1499,£
                                                              7619,£
  
  (paid cash -signature [handwritten])

• La dolce vita means 'the sweet life'

• The second receipt is from La belle Epoque, 10 Place de la Concorde, 75008 Paris, France

  Chanel costume, prêt à porter, 2006                         2500 €
  Costume National Luxe, quatre paires                        1000 €
  Issy Miyake, vest                                            550 €
                                                              4050 €
  ("paid cash" stamp)

• La belle Époque means 'the beautiful era'

18 May, 2006

• A new clue can be found on the Persephone page that reads:
  • 106 103 157 162 235 45 122 202 39 122 26 39 162 218 222 151 42 39 142 87 168 186
    • In base64, this translates to amedoustesonehonotrelyonjleoug==
      • The "g==" is a coding error that should be an "s" (The coding error can be confirmed by entering amedoustesonehonotrelyonjleoug== into the base64 box of the translator and noting upon decoding that the numbers in the DEC/CHAR box match those posted by Persephone.)
    • Therefore, the correct message is amedoustesonehonotrelyonjleous
    • This is an anagram of "a mouse does not rely on just one hole"
      • On the blast door map, the same phrase was written in Latin (Mus uni non fidit antro) to the right of ?, left of CV4.

19 May, 2006

Persephone's dirt on Thompson

Is the translucent man Marvin Candle?

Peter Thompson's picture has flashing letters behind it.

• The letters spell out "survivor guilt"
• If you enter it into the hidden text box below his picture, you get another message from Persephone. She reveals three documents with information she has found out about Thompson:
  • Williamsburg Tobacco
    • 1994 Defended the Williamsburg Tobacco Company against a class action suit on behalf of cancer victims; set a new precedent for corporate vindictiveness by countersuing and driving over 40 plaintiffs into bankruptcy!
  • Globoco Oil
    • 1998 Defended Globoco oil ... and successfully made the world safe for chemical polluters and dumpers of carcinogenic industrial waste in the Florida panhandle -- the incidence of cancer in the affected areas has grown by 75%!
  • Client's name: NUCLEAR
    • 2001 Was in the process of making sure the citizens of Southern Georgia got their glow-on by bullyragging the local courts into ignoring widespread protests against a nuclear power plant when he was struck by cancer -- looks like Alvar Hanso saved the wrong guy!
• At the end of each of her three messages, there are underlined words which will, when clicked, lead to a related image (nuclear disaster, tobacco field, poisoned glade).
  • The pictures have a half-visible image of a person in a lab coat (who seems to be missing their left arm), one has mysterious faces visible, another has a flash of a document image, and the words "don't believe his lies" flash quickly in another one.
• After viewing each document's following image, the page is 'scribbled out' (and cannot be reaccessed without repeating the entire process of accessing the message)
• After the final sequence (in any order), a final message declares "I work for criminals, always have, always will".

21 May, 2006

The faceless man

• Persephone's message now reads 2
• This seems to correspond with the previous numeric message, which translated to, "a mouse does not rely on just one hole," as a new page has appeared at hole2.thehansofoundation.org with the image of a faceless man (file named "q9als2002.gif").

Theory

• The image seems to have text on the forehead
  • "IM IVINT"(?)
  • "Joop" (?)
• Is Alvar Hanso actually J.R. "Bob" Dobbs?

Other information

Mistaken for clues

There is a 12-pronged icon on persephone.thehansofoundation.org website which was confused as a clue. However, this is the default icon of the Plesk Control Panel Software used by the website itself and not a game clue - See http://persephone.thehansofoundation.org:443/ and http://www.swsoft.com/plesk/.

There is a user login box in the far lower right corner of the main screen (next to the RSS button) requesting a username; this appears to be related to website maintenance.

External websites

Used for clues

• Hanso foundation
  • Persephone 'hacked' Hanso site
  • Hole 2
• subLYMONal.com
• letyourcompassguideyou.com

Used for clue breaking

• ASCII translator
• ROT13/ROT18 translator
• Binary translator