What I’m about to say is not to confirm that anyone on either side of the fence knows better about what they are talking about so much as to lay certain things down after having some encounters after posting this interview:

I will acknowledge that he is probably confusing some technical information about certain formats. In particular, referring to laserdisc as a glass format. However, this does not necessarily indicate that he has gaps in his memory. I can build a computer from scratch and have it working in just a few hours. But, that doesn’t mean I always know where my car keys are.
No Laserdisc was made up to 1986 when my dad was laid off…period. Any and all manufacturing information stating that laserdiscs for STAR WARS were made before that are outright lies. CBS\FOX would have been told what kind of master tapes to make and for what format before even making the masters due to the fact that they were the only duplication facility in North America with the license to duplicate and distribute all three movies in North America. As such, he would know if they were going to.
As much as I applaud fan efforts to preserve the pre-SE audio tracks via the laserdisc, they pail in comparison to the cassette recording my dad did while at CBS\FOX. I appreciate any and all offers to transfer the cassette we have to a digital format for later use. After talking with my dad, even though he did the recording for me (something that he could hand down) and I could do with it what I want, he made it conditional because it was meant only for me. But, we decided to purchase our own metal tape deck and plan on digitizing the track that way. I’ll figure out how to make it available after that. As far as which version it is, it’s before the SE. So, what does it matter? But, if you need a date, call it the CBS\FOX 1984 version of ESB.