same stage, and now it's happened to someone else (normally, people are acting dumb if they're BSing, but it seemed genuine in the case linked, that that person was being sincere)
I did a bit of snooping around, and people have had glitches with this before, but no one can determine why (also, it's not uncommon for people to dismiss it as cheating, the first time around). posts on Sega forums have baited no official response.
I'm unable to find these places again, so I don't have links, sorry...