Frank - I too found what looked a bit like a piece of a spring in my
oil pan during the early days of my engines life - came out of the drain plug hole at an
oil change. I spent some time cutting open the old
oil filters (being anal I had kept them) to check for any debris that could have gone through the pump - nothing in those of any consequence.
Engine builder and I finally tracked it down as a piece of helicoil - must have been from the heads we think, since all Edelbrock ally head threads are helicoiled. Never had any more trouble from that or any other source within the engine.
Anyway - for a piece of the oil pressure relief spring to have gotten through the pump and end up in the pan is a neat trick, can't figure how it could do that - like DV says I too would like to see the pictures!!