I guess I could buy the 10,000 miles part, as that bike would be fairly light for the tire and as mentioned, the surface doesn't appear to have been run hard (reverted rubber, "chicken strips," etc).
Two things strike me strongly though. First is that the damage is at rim width, which is frequently an indication of impacts (think curbs and pot holes) or low enough pressure that carcass damage appears with that spacing. Second is that if you read the rest of his story, the front tire then also came apart! One tire I could see as a defect, but two on one bike? Of different sizes, meaning that they were made in different molds? At nearly the same relative use in miles and time?
Sorry, but my ******** detector is flashing bright red so far on this one.