> Why can't the unobserved electromagnetic field be the same thing as Aether?

I think that fields are indeed the aether, they are manifested when the aether is disturbed/excited resulting in a different state of the aether (which is pure potential, energy at rest, inertia or counter-space... all the same thing, all the default state of energy).

Applying the same logic to sound, it too doesn't travel nor is anything being emitted, even though we call it a "speed of sound" which changes depending on the medium, and temperature and air density also affect this rate. When you talk softly vs screaming, are you emitting anything at a higher rate, or are you changing the amplitude of the frequency of waves resulting in what we perceive as more volume (larger disturbance of the air), and does that change in amplitude require a higher energy input? (it does).

Within the paradigm of modern physics, a change in frequency for photons (as opposed to amplitude when it comes to sound) requires more energy. So where is the energy coming from?

Light is acting the same way as sound; there is no emission and it doesn't have a speed, it is the rate of induction of the medium (aether) against itself, and this rate of induction varies since the 'speed of light' is inversely proportional to the density of the physical medium.

Light is a principle of the aether, and the resulting effect is illumination, similar to how dielectricity is a principle and magnetism is an attribute. You cannot have one without the other, since the dielectric field is what powers magnetism, and these are all fundamental to the coaxial circuit of light.

"Spooky action" is only a problem for the framework of modern physics, since nothing is supposed to be travelling faster than light, unless of course... light isn't actual travelling.