I was watching a few episodes from Season 5 last night while playing pool, and caught something...
In the first episode of Season 5, Mile's father (Dr. Pierre Chang) wakes up, feeds baby Miles, and then begins filming the orientation film for station 2 (The Arrow)... he is interrupted, with a problem down at the Orchid station. This is where Daniel Faraday appears for the first time in the seventies.
From what I understand, even before they went back in time, they were already there! At the beginning of Season 5, they are still flipping through time. . .
So maybe when Daniel says that the Island is like a record, he really means it? Could the events that happen on the island just replay over and over again? This would explain why nobody other than the Others are supposed to be there, since they can mess up the Island's timeline and become trapped in a loop?
I dunno... just noticed it... thought about it. EH.