CrazyEight, that sounds exactly like my little brother at that age. Turns out he was having aggressive Night Terrors and wasn't in sync with reality. He was terrified and confused at the images he was seeing in real life with the images his brain was also producing. I'm glad you found a solution!

My own 3 yrs old wakes up like this from time to time. It's like he was disturbed during a specific spot in his sleep cycle that sent him off the deep end. We tried to cater to his wants, but eventually learned that just laying beside him shushing him soothingly worked the fastest and calmed him down the quickest. It's hard!!!