Just found this quote from George: “…The other movie, it’s on VHS, if anybody wants it.” By “other”, he means the original, but what version of the videotape did he mean? https://ew.com/article/2016/02/16/star-wars-restore-1977/
Literally any VHS of the movies released before 1997.
Thanks for the input. I found this actually on StarWars.com suggesting that each subsequent videotape release made alterations: “Each VHS release had something that the previous did not, be it improved audio, a different aspect ratio…” https://www.starwars.com/news/collectibles-from-the-outer-rim-star-wars-vhs-releases
I just found out about the Silver Screen Edition(s) done by Team Negative One which seems to me to be the most authoritative way to determine original aspect ratio, a single reel! No offense to the other hard-working fan projects but it seems they piece their works together whereas a single reel… wow… how much more authentic can you get than that?!