Many great scientists have believed in the existence of the ether. It is not a strange concept. Don't make it sound like it is.
the aether being used here does not equal the ether or aether that was used by some scientists in the past. It was used like Dark matter/energy is used today. As something unknown to fill a gap in the current theory. They then went about trying to figure out why the observations didn't 100% match with their mathematical formulas. Understand that once scientists believed that electromagnetic waves (which act more like particles at higher frequencies than waves) where the same thing as sound waves. Sound waves need matter to propagate through, like air. Electromagnetic "waves" do not. This was a misconception that required something to fill the apparent void of space, someone somewhere proposed ether. Then people in the paranormal field started using it for anything and everything from proof of how ghosts should be able to materialize to a substance/energy used to communicate with the dead. Once they figured out how electromagnetic "waves" actually behaved they didn't need the ether anymore as part of their equations. Now however aether is being used much the same way as ether was used in the paranormal field did once before. It was a buzzword type thing, "oh science uses this unknown thing, therefore it sounds more realistic for us to use it for our ideas". Aether is used as some unknown thing/energy/force to fill in for whatever is needed to fill any holes in this FE idea. It has so many properties, it can bend time, space, and light. It acts like a force, a barrier, and as matter in solid, liquid (maybe) and gases forms. It has to be intelligent to bend light in just the right way as to make anyone looking up to think the Earth is round. It also scatters light enough and in just the right way to give the illusion of things disappearing bottom up from the horizon. For one it acts as the air, the building blocks of all matter, a matter transportation device, and as a form of gravity. It is a quick plug in "stuff" that is used to describe anything that science has theorized, tested, and produced mountains of evidence. It is used to discredit anything that is contrary to the FE idea.
Now am I poking fun at these people for thinking this way, a little bit honestly. They are entitled to their own opinions. I have fostered a possible friendship with a couple of these FEers and enjoy finding out more about their ideas. Actually caring about their thoughts on the matter helps me to debate them in a better manner. I try not to automatically think they are ignorant, or dismiss their explanations without trying to see it from their viewpoint. But there are others that claim to be FEers that are rude, dishonest, and dismissive.
Now as for the OP, I think its been answered before but Ill try to explain how that will not work. Samuel Shenton (the founder of the modern FE society) once believed in a round Earth, he claimed to have invented a way to travel around the world much easier by using a large hot air balloon to go up high enough to let the Earth rotate below him and then just lower the balloon back down. This was in the 1920's or so. He went with his theory and tried to get support to build his Balloon. He was laughed at by the scientific community and decided that the only reason his design wouldn't work was if the Earth was flat and they were hiding it from everyone. The irony is that his original concept would work if you could leave the atmosphere and remain stationary without the gravity of Earth pulling you back down. The atmosphere is relatively rotating with the ground so for that concept to work you would have to get outside the atmosphere. Since a balloon floats in air as long as the density of the air high enough, much like an air bubble floats to the top of the water, you cannot leave the atmosphere on a balloon. Airplanes, birds, ect. actually fly through the air using pretty much the same characteristics as submarines, fish, etc. swim through the water. So anything floating on/in the air is going to travel with the air.