The only reasons I can come up with would be an adjacent target, too high of Sensitivity, improper ground balance, or an electrical interference problem. Unfortunately, once excavated, it is extremely difficult to duplicate the situation. Out of curiosity, what does it read, now that it is out of the ground?
As to numbers and notch bins.......the notches are set, based on what we commonly refer to as conductivity. However, what we call conductivity is actually a number that the engineers assigned to a given target (and associated notch segment), based on the time constant (delay) between the transmitted signal and the receive signal. The target's time constant is determined by the metallic conductivity of the target, and it's inductance. Inductance is the