I wouldn’t consider myself a conspiracy theorist, but I’ve got a theory.

It’s a theory about daylight savings time.

Every year I’ve asked myself this question “where exactly does that hour go that we lose every Spring?”

After years of mulling it over, I’ve got a theory.  It’s a pretty good theory, too, if you ask me.

But before I unload my brilliant theory on you, I want to share some thoughts from other folks.  I asked friends on Twitter and Facebook what their theories are about this mysterious lost hour.  Where does it go?

Here are some answers:

Jeffry Marth:  Theory 1: the Keebler elves eat it. Theory 2: It jumps forward in time to when we gain an hour in the Fall.

Doug Okamoto: All the hours that are "saved" go to the end of time and create eternity! Of course with all the hours that haven’t been saved eternity is not going to be very long…

Kristen Howerton: It goes back to the 1970’s for three years, until John Locke resets the island.

emilyhannah: Two words: Polar Bears.

jpmarth: I say the time gets eaten by the Keebler elves

elagrew: The lost hour goes to the same place as my socks do when I dry them. Spooky!

kmaco214: The right answer is……the Gov’t takes it, like everything else that is messed up!

All interesting and worthy conspiracies, but I believe that I have the theory that will put Oliver Stone at the kid’s table.

Are you ready for it?

Try to follow my reasoning here:

Modern DST was first proposed in 1907 by the English builder William Willett.

This was not the first time that the idea of adapting to daylight hours had been mooted, however. It was common practice in the ancient world, and Benjamin Franklin resurrected the idea in a light-hearted 1784 satire.  Although Franklin’s facetious suggestion was simply that people should get up earlier in summer, he is often erroneously attributed as the inventor of DST while Willett is often ignored.

Because of this common oversight, Willet became so angered and troubled by the fact that his contribution to society had been completely overlooked and attributed to the brilliant and hedonistic Ben Franklin (who apparently also started a chain of arts and craft stores).  Willet’s anger lead to a life-long obsession with finding that proverbial fountain of youth so that he could live on until the day that his contribution to society was finally recognized.

After spending time with infamous scientists like Nikola Tesla, Max Plank and even Madam Curie, Willet could not find that one thing that eluded him: a way to extend his life well beyond his expected life span.

Feeling dejected and wronged by the world, Willet hopped on his trusted horse, Benny  (allegedly named after Ben Franklin, Willet would hop on his horse and beat the living crap out of him to help release his pent up anger) and rode out in to the English countryside of Chislehurst.  Willet felt that Benny deserved an extra long beating that February day, so he took a previously undiscovered path to elongate his ride.

Feb. 12th, 1938.  This was the last time that Willet was ever seen.

No one has ever found his remains and most experts hypothesize that he fell down the Chislehurst chasm.

But this is where I differ with the experts, and this is where my theory concludes.

On that February day on the English countryside, Willet discovered something that would forever change his life… and would elongate it!

In the Chislehurst chasm, Willet discovered the hour that we lose each year.  And since Britain had been using DST since 1916, there were exactly 21 lost hours in that chasm.  Willet found a way to live 21 more hours, and he would use those 21 hours to claim his place in history as the modern inventor of DST.

Unfortunately, most of us still think that Ben Franklin invented it.  And we probably always will.

But that, my friends, is my theory on where the lost hour goes each year.

So, if you’re looking for a way to add some hours to your life, eat a carrot, quit smoking, or take a horse ride in Chislehurst.