Patrick!!! You look so cute when table-pounding!
I don't much go for the aether theory myself. In fact, the consensus seems to be that it has been adequately disproved, "falsified." Anyhoot, you don't need an aether when you've got a universal vacuum field (Zero-Point) that's just as "big" as our entire inflationary universe.
You want to see direct data supporting this theory. But I think we're limited to reasoning from indirect data. For instance: Non-local effects -- simultaneous action at a distance (no matter how great the distance) of "entangled" particles -- have been repeatedly experimentally confirmed. Simultaneity implies superluminal velocities for the propagation of such effects. In turn, one conjectures that a field (not an aether, for action via an aether would apparently be constrained by the speed of light) is necessary to mediate such phenomena; it may also be the case that the primary vacuum field -- of which all other fields have been conjectured to be "daughter fields" -- may not even exist in 4D space-time as we are accustomed to perceive such.
The electromagnetic (EM) and quantum vacuum fields appear to have an indispensable function in life (biology) and consciousness:
"The more subtle level behind the EM one is the level of quantum-vacuum interactions (QVI). [Ernst] Laszlo (1995) proposed that QVI may offer the solutions for the present problems of cosmology, biology, psychology and parapsychology. I worked out a quantitative model which shows the relationship between the different levels of our environment and the progressively deeper mental levels existing within us (Grandpierre, 1995a, b).
"It is pointed out that the deeper mental levels (Grandpierre, 1995a), on which the ‘aware consciousness’ builds up, have larger capacity, are faster, therefore they require more subtle material carriers beyond the molecular and neural units, reaching the quantum range. Assuming a finite energy exchange between the vacuum field and the brain within the bounds of the uncertainty principle, a relation is found between the physical size of the brain and its relevant time scales. Using the time scales for information processing within the brain as a whole and within its cells, the characteristic frequencies of the electromagnetic and vacuum waves are obtained in the visible and the ultraviolet spectral ranges. It is pointed out that the formula derived for the couplings between the different mind levels gives values for the frequencies between the Universe and Man which are physically possible and actually plausible." -- A. Grandpierre, "The Physics of Collective Consciousness," 1996.
As you can see, PH, physics is "sneaking" into biology in a very big way. One consequence is that organisms can best be thought of, not as "discrete units" separate from everything else (the "classical" biological view) but as localized field structures participating in global fields -- thus nothing is truly separated from everything else.
So it seems perfectly reasonable to me to conclude, for instance, that Bill Clinton has an EM field to which one may react; and that "he" is part of a "collective" field in which others also participate. Thus we have an illustration of what is meant by "collective consciousness." For consciousness appears to be mediated by EM and quantum vacuum waves -- propagating in fields.
I find all this totally fascinating! Laszlo's and Grandpierre's (et al.) speculations may yet prove to be a "wrong turn." But these ideas are building support within the scientific community. I'm content to wait for further work to be completed before dismissing out of hand the relevance of field theory to human life and consciousness.
Here's wishing you a happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year, dear PH!
PH, still grumbling and mumbling "... no data, no verifiable data ... ," raises a glass of New Year's spirits [the verifiable, potable kind], and manages to say: "God bless us, every one!"
Since the first pass, and after you mentioned the possibility of an extra time dimension --- I've read many articles by Vafa and others which may suggest extra dimensionality as an alternative to, or alternative "location" for, such a field. This is going to be fun - we live in very interesting times, betty boop!