Unctuous... Excellent post.
I was wondering if the depth etc of the actual receiver would negate any of these anomalies.
I would have thought that if the receiver was virtually on top of the pings then that should give an accurate position. I would assume that IF the boxes are actually there then the receiver would have passed pretty close to one of them.
Of course does not necessarily mean the aircraft is there as well, which is probably why the are having so much trouble locating them with the UAV.