[schillingouttheks]

I like this manifestation idea. If I remember correctly in a prior season, I got the feeling that anyone who came into contact with the smoke monster saw something about him/herself in it. I also remember that when Locke first encountered the smoke monster (it was off-screen, not when he's almost dragged into the hole), he was asked whether or not he saw the monster and he clearly lied. But what he did say at some point was, "I have looked into the eye of this island, and what I saw was beautiful." I'm inclined to believe he saw something when the smoke monster approached him. But I'm not sure why the smoke monster has killed other people in the past, like the pilot of the plane (in the pilot episode).