It is a perfectly ordinary eBay train wreck. The two high bidders put in absurd bids serenely confident that all of the other bidders will behave sensibly.
The first of them, m**u, put in his bid at 10:14. Several other bidders bid repeatedly trying to find his limit. o**c, the bravest of the small fry, dropped out at 16:45 after having pushed the automatic bidder, acting for m**u, up to $930. And then h**h's ridiculous snipe bid hit at 18:35:28 six seconds before the auction closed normally. KAPOW!
There's nothing mysterious or underhanded, just misplaced faith in other bidders' rationality.
xya, look at the bids' time and date stamps and reconsider your story. I think you got it badly wrong.
Theo, a reserve price (= an invisible high opening bid) has no effect on how much bidders will offer.