Timewarp past 100x doesn't seem to be a requirement for reproducing that. I'm sorry that I can't be more specific but it seems to happen randomly.
I also noticed that sometimes when I go to fly one of my already orbiting crafts it might be "on fire" as in having the appearance of an overheated part during reentry but it wont' take any damage. If that happens and I go back to tracking station and then fly the craft again the fire will be gone.
Lastly a couple of times when I had a contract to rescue a stranded Kerbal I found that if it had that "on fire" effect and I got close to it while in time warp it would explode.
Again, sorry that I can't be more specific but these instances seem to happen randomly, I haven't found a reliable way to reproduce them.