Be Careful!

lpretiring,  electric charge on your body is "looking" for return to ground.  There will be multiple paths of return with current inversely proportional to return impedance.  I'm not sure if it can create effect, you describe, in tubes, but it is possible with semiconductors.  Perhaps your CD player was in some form of standby (necessary for remote to operate) and it contained semiconductors.  Most of integrated circuits, these days are not bipolar and often contain both NMOS and PMOS transistors.  That allows to create parasitic SCR (Thyristor) structures that can be triggered by excessive current flow.  This effect known as "Latch-up", very common about 30 years ago, was leading to equipment damage with static discharge.  It was often enough to provide more than 30mA per pin to trigger latch-up.  Circuit in latch-up was slowly heating up to the point of damage.  Since then, protection methods got implemented and circuits are safe from much higher currents, but I'm not sure if it is completely free from it.   Turning power off resets the circuit in latch-up.  My advise would be to turn power off if you experience it again.  Allowing circuit to stay in latch-up can lead to damage (overheating).  Perhaps tubes can go into similar state, but it would be better to ask tube experts like Atmasphere.

@kijanki 

I did ask Dennis Had who built my Inspire amp and he doesn't understand what happened. That made someone like me with sooo little tech knowledge even more paranoid.

I also talked to Andy from Vintage Tubes when I was ordering new tubes for it, and he mentioned maybe a cap or oscillating. I wasn't clear on what he meant about the oscillating reference and did not want to press the issue at that moment.

I guess my biggest concern since it's playing well is that some parts might have been compromised and could fail prematurely. 

If it ever happens again, I will take your advice and shut down immediately.

   LP

Ended my Pono with just one touch.. been dumping static into a ground wire off to the side of the rack ever since. 

I read a little trick that helps me, as static is a huge problem for me and my system. I touch the little screw that holds on the the light switch cover to my room. I am luck it is near by. Yes, I get a little shock but not as big as when I touch my amplifier. The screw is attached to the receptacle box that is grounded so it minimizes the shock. At least that was how it was explained to me. I don't know if it is right but at least it does the trick.