The elusive "Orange" Controller (Updated with *NEW* information)

I have been asked about this controller a couple of times now. Honestly I have no clue whats it is, where it came from, who made it or how one would obtain it etc..

There has been speculation that it was a prize for a contest but I can find absolutely no documentation as to which contest, when and where.

You can clearly see one in this persons (unknown) collection . (middle shelf, on the right).

(Middle shelf, on the right, in between the hard drive and the prototype crystal controller.)

 Someone that lives in Redmond, Wshington was able to find all three of these in a local thrift store. Here we have a Duke prototype called the "Dakota", a Debug Kit and the ever so elusive orange controller.

Some people claim that the orange controller was a match to this console. But to me, it looks like either a one-of-a-kind color swatch mock up actually made by Microsoft using a Crystal jewel, or a custom tinted crystal console made by a fan. The hue of orange doesn't seem to match in my eyes...

Update : Actually it was a custom production made from Xbox short run marketing test parts. So this was a one of a kind Xbox.

Other people were trying to say that the orange controller was the segway for the "Super Rare Red Controller"... which turned out to be a batch of custom made, 3rd party controller shells as debunked by members of the xbox-scene forums several years ago.