Cheers and optimism over what searchers believed might be underwater pulses from Malaysia Flight 370 have given way, four days later, to little more proof the aircraft is close to being found.No more signals have been detected since Saturday's momentary jubilation aboard an Australian navy ship some 1,100 miles (1,750 kilometers) northwest of Perth -- pulses consistent with those sent by a flight data recorder and cockpitvoice recorder, explained Angus Houston, head of the Australian-based part of the massive search effort.This lack of new info, and the fact no wreckage of the Boeing 777-200ER has been discovered, makes searchers "more cautious," said U.S. Navy Cmdr. William Marks of the U.S. 7th Fleet."As hours pass," he said, "our optimism is fading away, ever so slightly."Wednesday marks 33 days since the jetliner mysteriously disappeared from radar screens, a stretch marked by loads of speculation, lots of heartache from relatives of the 239 people aboard the plane and few solid facts about what happened.It's also three days since the date which the batteries powering the flight recorders' locator beacons were certified to be working. Stored in a plane's detail, they are designed to begin sending offdistinct, high-pitched signals as soon as they come in contact with water.Authorities are still listening, mindful the pulses could last a few days longer and that sending in submersibles could ruin chances of hearing them again. Retired Lt. Col. Michael Kay of the Royal Air Force told CNN the batteries can operate up to 40 days."We need to continue ... for several days right up to when the point at which there's absolutely no doubt that the pinger batteries will have expired," said Houston.Four reasons to believe; six reasons to doubtDiscovery of possible 'locator beacon' pulses gives hope Searchers are looking for debris across a 30,000-square-miles zone. That's large and challenging, but still pales compared to the once nearly 3 million miles, at sea and on land, the searchers were scouring for signs of the lost aircraft a few weeks ago.Authorities greatly shrank that area after analyzing satellite data to determine Flight 370 had set off from Kuala Lumpur toward Beijing, turned around togo back over the Malay Peninsula, then ended up in the southern Indian Ocean.Why? No one really knows.The best chance to answer that question may rest wherever the plane -- and its so-called black boxes,with their trove of information about the plane and its movements -- now resides.Search planes dispatched day after day looking for evidence of the missing airliner -- a floating wing, a seat cushion, anything -- thus far have come up empty.The latest, greatest hopes have come from crews listening underwater for signs of Flight 370.The first such possible breakthrough came last Friday and Saturday, when a Chinese ship detected pulses that may have been from the plane. No more have been heard since.Wing Cmdr. Andy Scott of New Zealand's defense forces told CNN's Wolf Blitzer that "it appears that area" around the Chinese find "has been ruled out for now." There was no immediate confirmation of anything being ruled out from the Australian agencyheading the search, and the live ship tracking website MarineTraffic.com indicated early Wednesday that the British ship HMS Echo continues to trawl in that area.The focus remains intense around the site of Saturday's discovery from Australia's Ocean Shield.It used more advanced detection gear from the Chinese vessel and was found some 375 miles away, leading Houston to believe they are separate signals.
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