I can't see why Newton would lie to his friends and relations about something like this, but in the absence of a time machine and a brain scanner your interpret

I can't see why Newton would lie to his friends and relations about something like this, but in the absence of a time machine and a brain scanner your interpretation is as valid as any other. In any case, regardless of whether Newton's recollection of his own experiences was mistaken or confected, this is not a myth in the normal sense of being the product of invention or misconstrual by others long after the event.