Maybe another glitch, I'm not sure. I reported it in the Hell Server thread too. In a Korgath BCH0, in Orion Pirate space, I encountered a small freighter with two burned out phaser 2's,. It's transporters and shuttle bay were burned out as well. It proceeded to "attack" me. I gave the captain extra points for style and chutzpah before I took his ship and threw him overboard.
Edit: I had an idea for a scenario, Dave. You encounter a burned out frigate. Upon a close scan, your science officer announces it's booby trapped as it explodes with enough force to say....knock out a shield or two and maybe some weapons/systems. As an alternative you could suddenly suffer systemwide failures due to sabotage. At this point you are jumped by two light cruisers/heavy frigates.....
Sorry to keep throwing dumb ideas at you but it seemed kind of cool.