"That does not make it real."
Accepted but in this case I reckon 95% chance it was.

"Was anyone else aware of the hobby and an exacto knife in his pocket, playing?"
I would have thought this would get spotted somehow. That said, read on

"Was Dave Whalen playing?"
Where would he get $10k?

8800 entrants start with 10k in chips each = 88m
Final table chip count was 92m
"Was Dave Whalen playing?"
Who knows?

"IMO, no Bud Jones error chip can EVER be proven to come from the factory."
I agree.