  Given a target distribution, the uniformly optimal search plan provides the
best way to search for a target. It has been widely and successfully applied in
several high-profile civil and military search missions. Since the target
distribution is subjective and chosen at the discretion of an analyst,
eliciting the target distribution is also part of the solution to the search
problem. Based on this observation, this article establishes that, under mild
conditions, there is no genuinely optimal solution to the search problem even
if the uniformly optimal search plan exists. One practical implication of this
result is that one can improve an existing search plan in many cases even if
such a plan is designed using the most advanced search software or system, such
as the U.S. Coast Guard's Search and Rescue Optimal Planning System (SAROPS).
