Hey, I don’t think you need to worry about insulting us. It’s always interesting to hear topics like this.
It’s indeed great that you got to see the film in 1977 and that it produced such strong memories, whether or not they’re perfectly accurate. I think the idea of false memories in film has been discussed here a few times, leading to some interesting (and yes, sometimes heated) threads. As you’ve probably noticed, there is no working search function. So your attempts to find the threads would likely be as good as mine.
The major recurring one is the idea that Luke swung his grappling hook a few times and missed. Another, I think, has to do with Luke hanging on to the structure underneath Cloud CIty. I think this is the first one I’ve heard of this memory, specifically.
Some people around here did indeed see the film in its theatrical run. But, whether or not Catbus has, he is incredibly familiar with the film in its many versions (as are many folks here). While something like this can never be completely ruled out, there is no existing evidence for it. The point that Catbus was making (successfully, in my opinion), is that a number of users here have direct access to the very 35mm prints that would have been shown to folks like you in 1977 or in 1981 (as ANH). And indeed, every frame and every known mix has been analyzed to death, here. There are prints which no one here is known to have, such as the ESB 70mm. But even then, we have a great deal of information on it. And, to date, there is no print known that is as you describe.
The intent isn’t to be dismissive of your memories, but just to say that with the information available to us it does not sound likely. And that our input shouldn’t be entirely dismissed simply because we weren’t all at those 35mm screenings, since those prints do still exist. However, if your memory is real and is due to a single copy having some abhorrent splice or something. Again, the grappling hook thread would perhaps be of interest to you, if we can find it. And who knows, maybe (as with the grappling hook), someone else will recall the ‘standby’ scene the way that you have.