Gene, W4SZ wrote:
"There is no need to invoke phony arguments about waves "shorting"."

Shorting waves does not annihilate them. It merely reflects them. A
short is a low-resistance conductor.

A transmission line short is a low-impedance U-turn for for the wave`s
current which forces the voltage between conductors to zero.
Cancellation of the electric field sends its energy for an instant to
the magnetic field. As these two conjoined fields continuously
regenerate each other, the electric field is immediately recreated by
the enhanced magnetic field. The electric field goes from zero at the
short to double the incidet just 1/4-wave back from the short due to
addition of the incident and reflected wave vectors (phasors).

For a complete reflection in a short, you need zero resistance.
Otherwise, resistance consumes some of the available energy.

When a radio wave strikes the ground, it is reflected. Angle of
reflection equals the incidence angle but because the earth is an
imperfect reflector the reflection is ncomplete. Reflection depends on
incidence amgle, wave polarization, frequency, and type of earth. The
reflection occurs as if the R-F wave were an optical wave.

NVIS is simple to do by using a horizontal dipole up 1/4-wave above the
earth. The wave is delayed 90-degrees in travel to the earth. It is
delayed 180-degrees by earth reflection. Then, another 90-degrees of
delay is experienced in the reflected wave`s return to the vicinity of
the dipole. The 360-degree total round-trip delay puts the reflected
wave back in-phase with newly emerging radiation from the dipole in its
travel toward the zenith. If the ionosphere can reflect this high-angle
energy, it can cause reception fairly close to the transmitter.

Best regards, Richard Harrison, KB5WZI