"That suggests that someone at Fidelity thinks this was a recharacterization. Since they're the ones pushing the buttons, IMO they are a more reliable source of information than "what the client thinks happened.""

I take the opposite position...When you talk to these brokerage people and describe what you think happened, you get the answer based on that discussion. It's not based on the reality of the situation, and many times, the issuer of the 1099-R (for money out) has no idea what happened next or why the money was taken or if the taxpayer has another Roth that meets a 5-year requirement but this one under their management did not, etc.

If the money and earnings were distributed to the taxpayer, and if they did not put it into another IRA-type of account, then it would be treated as a corrective distribution. That's a lot of "if"s, but at some point the taxpayer needs to help explain their own reality.