A similar thing happened to my 92 accord the other day. (it wasn't so 'rapid' though).

I came out to my car after sleeping until the afternoon or so and tried to start it but just got a clicking noise. I thought I left a light on, but the lights were still good.
I remembered my fuel was real low and, I don't know much about cars, so I thought it made sense to bounce the car up and down a few times to swish any fuel that might still be around.
I reseated the spark plugs (or what I thought were the spark plugs) jiggled some wires, pulled some connectors out of the engine, put them back in.
After a little of this the car started. I went to the gas station and put gas in it, now it's fine.

I'm sure quite a few knowledgeable mechanics are just shaking their heads right now.