The Mystery of the Cracked MacBook Display

I love my new black MacBook with the 13.3” glossy screen. It's less than 3 months old. I take exceptionally good care of it. It's never been dropped, bumped, or mishandled. It's rarely left its shelf next to the stereo where it wirelessly manages all my digital music. Yet, for no apparent reason, and in the presence of four trustworthy witnesses (not counting myself) who had just enjoyed my first iPhotos slideshow, the screen suddenly and inexplicitly changed from the familiar iTunes library while playing an iTunes playlist, to a work of abstract art. My friends and family were at first captivated by what we assumed was an unwanted but nevertheless artistic software glitch. The music kept playing and we actually took pictures of the screen because it was so weirdly beautiful and surely impossible to reproduce. But when a restart failed to change the screen image, awe turned to dread. A stop by the Apple Store the next day confirmed the problem was a cracked screen. “Cracked screen?” I repeated, stunned. What could have caused that?” I’ve been using lesser-grade laptops for international travel that have taken serious abuse and I have never experienced, much less ever heard anyone else complain about a cracked screen. “Must be some design flaw. That’s disappointing. I had expected more from Apple. Oh, well. It’s under a great warranty. How long to get it fixed?” The reply from the Apple Genius was stunning. “Cracked screens are the result of accidents. They’re not covered under warranty.” I was speechless. Accident? Impossible. Had it been so, the explanation for the bizarre screen image would have been obvious to all five of us. I realized I needed to speak to the manager. “How much force would it take to crack a screen,” I asked. “I can’t quantify it,” the manager replied, “but dropping it or a blow to the screen with a sharp object would do it.” I won’t recount the tense exchange that transpired between me and the store Manager, whose comment, “I want to believe you,” translated to this customer as “you’re obviously lying” and instead jump to the proposed solution offered... Ship the defective machine to Apple Repair and have them determine if there is any evidence to prove there was a manufacturing defect (note wording: “evidence to prove there was a manufacturing defect,” not prove there was an accident). If there’s no proof it was a defect, the repair will cost over $700—about 40% the value of the machine. To his credit, the manager will waive the $100 inspection fee should I decline the repair.

So, here’s my question. Has there ever been another recorded incident where an LCD screen just cracked?

As a research analyst I appreciate how unbelievable my story must have sounded to the Genius and the Manager and maybe even you. But on-line discussion boards indicate this has happened under the most innocuous of conditions, like lifting or moving the machine by the screen rather the base, but even this level of mistreatment is not possible in this case. I believe some sort of stress on the screen due to improper frame alignment (the plastic screen hinge did have a slight squeak) might cause the screen to eventually fracture under normal use. Might there be something especially fragile about the new glossy screens? Can anyone provide a reasonable explanation as to what happened?