Technology Service Corporation Radar Systems Engineer interview questions

Relatively small company with a personable HR department administrator who setup my interview time and schedule. I was "rushed" in because of time constraints on my availability (i.e., I had another offer pending). I interviewed with 4 or 5 managers, some of whom were still technically involved on a daily basis. The interview questions were standard questions regarding my resume and work experience. They also described the company and it's workload and where I may fit in. Overall, I thought the interview process to be straightforward, and standard. The only grey area I experience was my interview with there chief scientist, who asked me about work I had done several years ago, and which was unrelated to the position I was interviewing for. However, he explained why he was asking his questions and since he is a phD, I understood that he wanted to use this as a teaching example as well as interview. The strangest thing however, was that I was told by several of my interviewers (including the general manager) that I was a strong candidate and was all but practically assured an offer within a day or two. Only to wake up the next morning and find that they decided to keep searching for a candidate with more broad experience in the field. That was devastating, given the repeated assurances that I had received the day prior that they believed I was a good fit. So I rate this interview experience as negative based solely on the fact that I felt lead on, when in all honesty, they could have simply not said anything and than declined to make me an offer. As opposed to gushing over me and my resume, and than declining to make an offer.