The Pattern

The Pattern is the codename given to unexplained phenomena, also known as "Fringe Events", under investigation by Fringe Division, a special branch of the Department of Homeland Security. Headed by Phillip Broyles, it consists of Olivia Dunham, Peter Bishop, Walter Bishop, and Astrid Farnsworth . Among those with significant knowledge of The Pattern is Nina Sharp, Executive Director of Massive Dynamic, a multibillion dollar company that has several ties to The Pattern.

Broyles describes the events of The Pattern as seeming "as if someone out there is experimenting, only the whole world is their lab".

Origin

The walls between universes is breached

The Pattern originated at Reiden Lake and was caused by Walter Bishop. Bishop's son, Peter, died in this universe. Determined to save the Peter from the alternate universe, Bishop crossed over through a portal that he had designed. However, this action had devastating consequences. Described by Carla Warren as an act against nature, the use of such a door created cracks in the delicate membrane between the universes. The balance between the universes was so destabilized that an inevitable confrontation would come to a head in the years following this incident. From this moment onwards, the universes were on a collision course, both colliding into each other. However, as later explained by Nina Sharp, it is against the laws of physics for two objects, in this case the two universes, to occupy the same space at the same time. A series of soft spots began radiating out from the lake. These are areas where the membrane between universes is incredibly thin, almost porous. Because of the destabilized conditions in these locations, any scientific ventures were prone to go awry. Impossible events were made possible- and too often occured, setting off the pattern of unexplained phenomena. Further incidents which happened were instigated by ZFT, a terrorist organization preparing weapons and technology for the coming war between universes.

Escalation

As the cracks ran deeper, events of the Pattern became more and more frequent, as well as severe. The coming

All the Pattern-related events point back to Reiden Lake

war caused ZFT, a presumed terrorist organization, to act, albeit erratically, to try and save their universe. The organization, funded by William Bell, made it their mission to experiment with highly complex and specialized technologies, testing for effectiveness, in preparation for the opportune time to unleash them in the coming war. These events caught the interest of the federal government, and it was by the actions of ZFT that the Pattern escalated. These bizarre scientific advancements plagued the "soft spots" between universes, causing further rifts and cracks.

Investigation of The Pattern

At an unknown time, an Oversight Committee was formed by individuals with knowledge of The Pattern. Among them were Phillip Broyles and Nina Sharp. This committee oversaw a team that was arranged to investigate the occurances. Details of the members of this team are unknown, but it was revealed by Broyles that they had limited success. Following the Flight 627 outbreak, a second Fringe Division was formed, consisting of Olivia Dunham, Peter and Walter Bishop, and Astrid Farnsworth.

Known Incidents

*Picture	Science	*Episode	Description	Connection
	Flesh Melting Contagion	Pilot	Passengers on an international flight find their bodies liquefied.	Perpetrator Richard Steig was a former Massive Dynamic employee
	Transhumanism	The Same Old Story	A woman dies in labor. Her baby dies as well...of old age.	By-Product of Massive Dynamic's Carson-Penrose Experiments
	Amber/Ghost Networks	The Ghost Network	A bizarre incident on a bus leaves its passengers frozen in amber.	Amber, is manufactured by Massive Dynamic in this universe.
	The Beacon	The Arrival	What appears to be an earthquake unearths a strange device.	The Observer is in charge of monitoring The Beacon.
	Electronic Manipulation	Power Hungry	Joseph Meegar accidentally controls the elevator with his mind.	Joseph Meegar was experimented on. Although unconfirmed, ZFT may have been behind it.
	Radioactive Humans	The Cure	Emily Kramer was being turned into a human weapon by INtREPUS.	The work was for an unnamed client. Massive Dynamic gained from their competitor's losses after the incident.
	Heart Parasite	In Which We Meet Mr. Jones	A heart parasite was discovered in FBI Agent Mitchell Loeb.	The entire event was orchestrated by ZFT to lead the FBI to David Robert Jones in order to discover the location Jones was to be teleported to.
	Hypnosis	The Equation	A boy goes missing. The strange part: his father can't remember how.	ZFT kidnapped the boy to obtain The Equation.
	Psychosomatic Exsanguination	The Dreamscape	A man jumps to his death. His cuts originate from the inside-out.	Mark Young, the victim, was selling Massive Dynamic secrets.
	Molecular Rearranging	Safe	A bank is robbed. The only trace of thieves is one that is in the wall.	The thieves were ZFT, robbing pieces of a machine that would teleport Jones out of jail.
	Virology	Bound	Slugs erupt from CDC Agents mouths	ZFT was behind the attacks for unknown purposes.
	Biotechnology	The No-Brainer	A computer virus fries people's brains instead of their hard-drives.	Brian Dempsey.
	Mutation	The Transformation	A creature is discovered in the wreckage of a plane.	The victim worked with John Scott.
	Genetic Engineering	Ability	A toxin covers all of its victim's orifices.	David Robert Jones, of ZFT, needed to get access to Olivia Dunham.
	Observers	Inner Child	A presumed Child Observer is discovered.	If the theory is correct, the child is connected to the Observers.
	Transgenics	Unleashed	A mutant runs rampant.	No connection to the grand scheme of events.
	Psychokinesis	Bad Dreams	Olivia dreams about a real-life murder.	Cortexiphan trials of Walter Bishop.
	Genetic Engineering	Midnight	A real-life vampire sucks the spinal fluid out of her victims.	Nicholas Boone's wife was held hostage by ZFT, who forced him to create weapons for them.
	Pyrokinesis	The Road Not Taken	A woman bursts into flames on the sidewalk.	Cortexiphan subjects are activated by ZFT.
	Alternate Universes	There's More Than One of Everything	A portal to the Other Side is opened.	David Robert Jones of ZFT opens the portal to find William Bell.
	Momentum	A New Day in the Old Town	An FBI agent flies out of an empty car.	Olivia Dunham was returned from the Alternate Universe.
	Genetic Engineering	Night of Desirable Objects	Several people disappear in a field.	The victims were snatched by Hughes' baby.
	Synthetic Neurotoxins/Bio-Weaponization	Fracture	A man is turned into an organic bomb.	While on tour in Iraq, an entire unit is exposed to a toxin containing cyanogen chloride and later exploited by a possible ZFT radical.
	Transmogrification	Momentum Deferred	A man is found dead. His blood contains mercury.	Shapeshifters were hunting down the head of Thomas Jerome Newton.
	Dreams	Dream Logic	A man turns into a violent sleepwalker.	Laxmeesh Nayak, a sleep specialist, was using a machine to live his clients' dreams, causing them to go insane.
	Dark Matter	Earthling	A man is reduced to ash.	An organism from outer space was discovered by Russia and brought back to Earth.
	Mind Control	Of Human Action	Kidnappers control police officers minds.	Tyler Carson is actually the kidnapper- part of the same Carson-Penrose experiments of Case #2 with Massive Dynamic.
	Observers	August	An Observer kidnaps a woman.	August fell in love with Christine Hollis and saved her life.
	Parasites	Snakehead	Snake-like parasites burst from their victims' mouths.	Part of drug-trafficking plot.
	Lobotomy	Grey Matters	A mental patient is found with the back of his head removed.	Thomas Jerome Newton was recovering pieces of Walter's brain.
	Retrocognition	Unearthed	A brain dead girl awakens citing military code.	The girls body was spiritually bonded with another man due to radiation.
	Mutation	Johari Window	A boy transforms from a normal looking child to a hideous monster.	A military camouflage program went horribly awry.
	Virus	What Lies Below	A man dies a gruesome death, releasing a 75,000 year old virus.	VandenKemp was smuggling the 75,000 year old virus from Solum Oil Corp for an unknown purpose.
	Toxins	The Bishop Revival	Relatives at a wedding suffocate to death in a room full of air.	A toxin bonded with the hemoglobin in the blood to suffocate them. recognizing specific genetic traits to target certain individuals
	Alternate Universes	Jacksonville	Two buildings collide while a man inside sprouts extra limbs.	Thomas Jerome Newton was switching parts of the universes, causing these two buildings to collide.
	Energy Exchange	Olivia. In the Lab. With the Revolver	A woman's face instantly becomes covered with tumors.	James Heath, a former Cortexiphan child, was unable to control his abilities.
	Time Travel	White Tulip	Passengers aboard a train all die.	Alistair Peck was attempting to time travel. The energy of everyone and everything around him was drained as a result.
	Shape-Shifters	The Man from the Other Side	Monsters emerge from mysterious embryos	Shape-Shifters from the Other Side are sent over to arrange transportation of Walternate to the Prime Universe
	Alternate Universes	Over There: Part 1	A Class One breach leads the the discovery of a man with tumors all over his face.	The Fringe Team from the Prime Universe crossed over. James Heath's ability from the Cortexiphan trials killed him.

According to Broyles, 37 incidents have been reported and classified as part of The Pattern.

Sri Lanka Tsunami

Sri Lanka Tsunami

More recently, an unidentified plane was spotted by a fisherman off the coast of Sri Lanka, flying low and emitting a high-pitched frequency which caused any glass windows in the surrounding area to shatter. Following this an hour later, a sub-surface earthquake measuring 8.7 on the Richter scale hit the area and caused a tsunami, decimating the costal towns and resulting in the deaths of approximately 83,000 people.

Coma Patient Co-ordinates

At a hospital in Lisbon a female patient woke up after years in a coma and began writing down a series of numbers which, when cross-checked in military databases, are discovered to be real-time co-ordinates of carrier battle groups on maneuvers in the pacific. These co-ordinates would be considered information classified above top-secret. It is unknown how she was able to produce these numbers or if she knew what they were.

Additional Incidents (Viral Marketing)

The following seven incidents are not mentioned in the pilot episode; instead they have been broadcast as viral radio spots for Fringe and as secret features on the "butterfly" picture at http://www.imaginetheimpossibilities.com. One of five different audio samples is played when the butterfly is clicked, and most are followed by a deep male voice which says "find the pattern".

One of the samples does not describe an incident; instead it is a radio advertisement for a car dealership called Franklin Auto (which sometimes appears as Abrams Auto for the radio spot) offering deals on 2008-model cars. The ad is interrupted halfway through, all speech and music become reversed, and the deep voice says "find the pattern". The advert goes back to being played forwards and finishes with the line "tell 'em Charlie sent ya!".

Growing Patient

Radio reporter: "A Dallas area physician reports that a 51-year-old female patient grew over eight-and-a-half inches overnight. Various media outlets have dubbed events like this "the pattern". All government sources are declar-"

Wedding Guests' Amnesia

Emergency services transmission: "Calling all units, there's a 1022 at the VFW hall at spring and fourth. Over 200 wedding guests are disoriented. All claim they can't remember the last two hours. May be linked to the pattern. Over."

An alternative 'radio spot' version of this transmission is currently being used as a viral marketing asset by Fox. There is only one difference; the road name "spring" has been changed to "Abrams".

Reanimated Husband

Male voice: "Case number 22. Tell me what happened, Mrs Reid."
Female voice: "I identified my husband at the morgue after the wreck. So I went home to break the news to my son... and then I got this call from the coroner. And he said 'I don't know how to tell you this, but... your husband wants a ride home'. [Laughs] He's alive!"

Cruise Ship Mayday

Crewman:"National sea rescue, this is the Solara cruise ship Astreya. Come in. "
Operator:"Roger, we read you five-by-five. Go ahead, Astreya."
Crewman:"Mayday, the navigation system's down."
Operator:"We copy, what was your last position?"
Crewman:"Can't find our way out. There's a sudden fog bank off the coast of patagonia. Gonna try and turn her around. Mayday. Mayday!"

The transmission cuts off, and we hear the sound of the tape being rewound. When it plays again, it is spliced so the syllables "find", "the", "pat-" and "turn" are arranged in order. The tape is rewound and played again twice, each time with the syllables closer together.

Transported Man

Radio Reporter:"A Baltimore family discovered a disoriented man in their back yard today who claims to have been in a London department store moments before. Security tapes confirm his story. Many believe this is part of The Pattern."

Kidnapped Sister

Radio Reporter: "St. Louis police report that a five-year-old girl's dream has revealed the location of her kidnapped sister. Various media outlets have dubbed events like this “the Pattern”. All government sources are declining comm-"

Four-year-old Linguist

Radio Reporter: “An Arizona University is studying a four-year-old boy who spontaneously began speaking six different languages. Is his extraordinary ability part of the events now being dubbed “The Pattern”? Government sources re-”

Sheep Patterns

Radio Reporter: "Case 91: Satellite imaging picked up a rare formation of sheep on a ridge along the Iowa border three months ago. After questioning the owner of the property, we have come to the conclusion that this is no hoax. The coordination and quantity of sheep creating the pattern leaves very little explanation. Reports indicate ten more sheep patterns were spotted throughout the area."

The rest of the evidence related to this case can be found here: http://www.imaginetheimpossibilities.com/77203.htm . Just hit the word next to continue through the list of evidence.