I find all of this confusing. If the 1099-R states a distribution from an IRA, perhaps that has nothing to do with the 457? Or, you are not clarifying that this is sequential, and this 1099-R is from the account where the 457 was rolled into (which means the 457 is no longer part of this discussion)? And you don't want a 5498 from "a" year. I thought you needed the 5498 for the 457 rollover year, because you only "think" it went to an IRA?

This is becoming a bit hard to follow.