I can see this tidbit being the "NSYNC IS IN EPISODE II" rumor for Episode III: the one thing that people are going to focus on endlessly, even after it gets debunked. I was worried about that getting out in 2001 because I was certain it'd overshadow everything else, and I was worried about the Yoda Fart getting out because I was sure it'd overshadow everything else as well.
of course, the NSYNC story was crap, and this story is just an example of a goof thrown into the assembly cut by the fx guys/editors for the hell of it. There's a long history of that kind of stuff happening in Star Wars, and a fair amount of those types of shots actually ended up on the DVD's of Episodes I and II as easter eggs.