First I know there's a new 4th edition of the catalog. I don't have one yet. But I noticed the 69 is listed as experimental in the 3rd edition. If the book was published in 2007 and the model 69 came out in 14 would it be safe to assume it took 7 years to go into production? Maybe longer. Maybe there was a different revolver all together that didn't see production. Just wondering if they really worked on that project for so long before releasing it.
I would guess the latter of your two explanations. S & W had several models that made it to the test gun/model number stage but not full scale production, like the nearby C frame model 73 (6 shot .38 Special). Some here probably has a photo or recollection of the first model 69.