DFW,
I'll reply to your riddle.
There is another way for shares to enter the float without registering as sells.
As you know, the company has issued many millions of restricted (144) shares to pay for things that they don't have the cash for. Once the restriction period is over, these shares enter the float (they are available to be traded even if the holder does not actually trade them). So, my guess is that much of the increase in the float falls into this category.
And by the way, I understood the white hat reference. That's why I thanked you for it.