HOLY COW Lefty, that's purely amazing!
When I was in the Air Force, the old camera repair Sergeants told us that when our Graflex lenses got bad chips in them, they filled them with black paint to cut the reflections, and returned them to service.
I talked to a Nikon rep once, and he told me they had mounted a camera with the 50mm f/1.8 on an Indy car during the Memorial Day 500. After the race, the front element was well and truly sandblasted and oily, but still produced respectable images. I couldn't see how that was possible and still don't, but the proof is staring us in the face. Much food for thought.
I guess the arguments re: sharpness with/without filters ir uncleaned lens elements can be relegated to very minor concerns.
No matter what kind of filter/goobers you have on your lens, it will not degrade the image nearly as much as the damage to that lens did.
Thanx.
