I've read many references since "Flashes Before Your Eyes" to The Casimir Effect. Is this what we think is happening to Eloise, Faraday, Minkowski, Desmond, and countless others?

Also . . . the helicopter went straight through a thunderhead. A jet survive this, but a chopper would get knocked around like crazy. Is the thunderhead some sort of entrance to a wormhole? I'm clearly not a scientist nor meteorologist!

I just assumed the "thunderhead" was/is the wall of the snowglobe. :shrug:

The casmir effect is something that happens on the molecular level (i.e. VERY SMALL). The video about the Orchid said a Casmir-like effect. The point of the thunderhead was that the helicopter wasn't able to go exactly on the right bearing. It was only slightly off, and thus Sayid and Frank weren't effected, but since Desmond was exposed to huge electromagnetic radiation, and thus was much more sensitive.