Marts,
Great essay, flagged up by a co-author as we closely agree. (from my 2011 essay onwards). I've long worked on this but you still found pertinent quotes etc. I'd missed. Well done, & thanks! More recently I've studied the bright light it shines on ALL other Physics; last years essay shockingly deriving a classical mechanism for QM, and a recent publication deriving a Higgs Condensate gravity, and even a cyclic cosmology! (see this yrs essay).
I'd expected discussion of Stokes, MGP, Hatch & Wang. I see you note MGP & Wang above and assume you're familiar with the others. You note no 'magic bullet' flawless solution emerges. I agree won't as long as the aether has to magically 'change' light speed to maintain local c between different moving systems. However Johm Minkowski and I DID finally find a 'magic' solution matching ALL experiments! I hope you'll study it, viz;
We know free electrons absorb and re-emit all light. We also know they condense at high densities at the boundaries of moving systems, so moving lens surfaces (fine structure), and ionospheric bow shocks (2-fluid plasmas with MHD turbulance between) between the suns Barycentric and Earth orbiting ECI frame. Then ALSO our rotating ECRF! Each is equivalent to Maxwells NEAR/FAR FIELD transition zone (TZ), position known to all antenna engineers.
Of course we find re-emitted light propagates at c in the ELECTRON rest frame. Now if we hypothesisze that all electrons re-emit at the same speed in their rest frame, we've derived local CSL AND Birefringence, as found by Miller at different heights UP Mount Wilson. Whats more Einstein actually FOUND this model in his 1952 paper (appdx.V p.139) as 'bounded spaces in motion within spaces'. but was ignored, then died.
That model overcomes the issues with Stokes 'aether drag' but is otherwise equivalent, and explains ALL experimental inconsistencies. There is no one 'absolute' frame, just always local backgrounds. Most can't easily rationalise it but I perceive you can. Do let me know, or ask any questions. I hope you'll also comment on mine.
But very well done for your essay. It deserves a boost which my well earned top score will give. The Aether is indeed 'decidable' by intelligent minds, if not suffering cognitive dissonance'!
Very Best, and Thanks
Peter