well, at the time, sorta new-ish...
I "think" they were sorta going for a Planet Of The Apes/Soylent Green surprise twist; yeah, similar plot to Changeling but they knew in the first act that it was an old Earth probe, not in the climactic scene.
working with Ampex 2 inch quadreplex machines.
ah, 2"... a couple of years ago I was freelance at a post house redoing their facilities and they had a working 1" Ampex; me & the other old-timer were stressing putting it in clear view in the tape room, next to the P2 rack, so clients could say, "wow, these guys have experience and can do it all."
It wound up in the back of the tape room, hidden