Quote: "The distance from the camera to the center of the control is further away than the distance from the camera to the center of the ball."
After the mouse click both the control and the ball are both located at 0,-6,-50. Just print out the GetObjectX,Y,Z and you will see that.
The objects position is used to calculate distance so in this case they are both exactly the same. Clearly your Controls obj file has a negative Y offset. If you get rid of that offset you wouldnt be having this issue as it would be at something like 0,-12,-50 and would appear on the floor and the ball would appear in front of it.