In my opinion, there are only a few "evidentiary" things that allow themselves to be followed up on. These are items that remain after the loss of AE and FN. They are factual and/or tangible. The photos of the Bevington object are a good example. I believe the post loss radio signals are another. Whether you believe the signals originated from the Electra or from another source, no one, I believe, is disputing that the signals existed and were received by professional operators.
The items found on Nikumororo through traditional archeology are yet others.
These are items that can be traced as to origins and history.
The bones, to me, fall into a second category. There are reports they existed, how they were discovered and of their analysis. But we can't do anymore than read about them from these historical documents. In effect, a dead end.
Finding them would elevate them into the more tangible category. But would having them in our possession change anything? Would they carry DNA? Would a new analysis change any of the historical information? I suggest that, while having the bones in our hands/museum would be nice, it wouldn't change the history, unless they yielded DNA of AE or FN.
Does anyone doubt that bones were found in the manner, date and time that the history suggests? Hard to do so when you have anecdotal stories corroborated by official government communications. That they existed is hard to dispute. That they belonged to AE or FN is hard to prove.
A new DNA analysis may prove the bones belonged to AE or FN but you have to actually find the bones first. We need to elevate this evidentiary thread from their current "dead end" status to the more tangible status of "smoking gun".
So while we should probably increase the search activity for the bones we can't lose sight of their current importance to the hypothesis.
But....
I am trying to convey the message that only a few threads exist which can help prove the hypothesis. Evidence of the Electra being found at Nikumororo or DNA from the lost bones does this. Possible evidence, as yet uncovered on Nikumororo, "may" yield something but would it/could it be of the "smoking gun" category like the Electra remains or DNA? Unknown.
I wonder what could be done with a couple of million dollars if used to search for the bones?
This question is not intended to suggest the ROV search was a waste of money. Just to suggest, IMHO, that we shouldn't put blinders on and only focus there.
The "bones" search has been carried out over the years but not to the scale of millions of dollars.
I believe that if we did not have the Bevington Object photo to work from to strongly suggest the ROV work should be the highest priority, then the bones would/could/should be the probable focus. They are important.
This post was intended to just provoke some alternate thinking. Respectfully submitted and not intended to offend or flatter.