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They go into a bit more detail about possible explanations here (this is cited in the paper that the article talks about).

https://arxiv.org/abs/2006.14805

They talk about your option in 5.11, "Einstein rings." For reasons that I don't understand (but I don't understand anything about optics) they come to the conclusion that the gravitational lens would have to be really large, and it is unlikely that such a large, well-structured lens would exist.

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Thanks! I saw three theories listed in the nature article and none of them mentioned lensing or Einstein rings.

Some curiosities behind the question were whether optical and radio frequencies behave the same with lensing. And how to tell if the radio image is in front of or behind the stars.

I'm an armchair astronomer if that, and obviously didn't read the source paper. Appreciate your thoughtful response!

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