Maybe a small clue?

[touzoku]

What did one snowman say to the other snowman?
What lies in the shadow of the statue?

Maybe nothing but we have seen a sort of "secret question" and "secret answer" thing.

Makes me think why do they do this and is their a connection?

Is this some sort of "defense" vs the man in black. ala the man in black can take other forms, but does he know all their secrets? maybe not, so if you are vs the man in black you need to know if the person you are talking to is truly who they are, so you have a "question/answer" only you and them know.

which makes me think about desmond, what do you think would happen if when John locke met desmond, john knew the answer to the snowman question. Desmond would have done anything he said at that point! so the answer to the question is only known by people who push the button and they only share it with others who push the button. if a time loop comes into play still at the end of series maybe someone will simply walk into the room and tell desmond the answer, Desmond rejoices. this person tells desmond he can leave. then this man keeps pushing the button and the flight never crashes, or he pushed the fail safe, or maybe he knows how to shut the whole thing off, etc...

wow thats me going off, to summarize.

the same tactic of using a question/answer has been used twice, perhaps by the same "group/faction". If this is true then whoever is responsible for Illiana's team is also responsible for the button being pushed.

[oldsmokey]

does that mean Ben could be a man in black as well. when he was shot as a child then taken away to be saved we were told he would not be the same again.