It might be useful to catalogue the transfers that lack the tear. So far it looks like we have

-1982 original home video transfer

-1989 JSC

The GOUT seems to lack it, but this is probably just due to DVNR. Is it possible the aforementioned two transfers had some sort of filter too? This seems very far-fetched, especially because I don't think there really was such technology in 1982, and the JSC looks like it is the least-filtered of any video release ever. I'm struggling to come up with situations whereby the tear was there in 1977 but not on two unique transfers at both ends of the 1980s. Are both those two transfers from two distinctly different prints? This might be a good starting point. Would it also be possible to get screengrabs? I don't have either at my disposal.