Happened to me, it felt more like phaser fire....  
It was the closing few seconds of a mission I was just waiting for my marines to capture the last enemy ship. 
Then like I said, it felt like phaser fire hitting my rear shield, that was still full... took my shield down in one volley and did a few internals. 
There was nothing else on the map (Rocks, Sun, Ships, etc). A few seconds later I took another volley, rear shield again, this time doing 
multiple internals. 
          Lucky for me, my marines did there job and the mission closed. I don't think I could have taken another volley. 
   This happened in the first week, not sure of the day, hex, or mission.  The only reason I'm bringing it up, is because I have just read the last 
few posts of this thread.  Thought it might have happened to another pilot who hasn't mentioned it as well.