So they _did_ have a sonar detection? Something does not make sense; a crewman who knew he had a positive 'hit' going into a forced-ascent exercise plan would not just let it drop. If the distraction occured before he had analyzed the trace, and it was too skimpy to be drop-dead certain about, I can see losing focus on the task; it is my understanding that analyzing faint sonar nujmbers can be very demanding, not easily done in noise. But I seriously doubt even a rating would drop the job if had actually "known" what he had. It gets muddier and muddier as the stories roll out, doesn't it?

A