Odd failed HIT

I got in to lucid dreaming a few years ago but lost interest due to lack of success. It's only been recently that I've attempted it again. I came across the HIT method and thought it would be the quickest way to get to lucidity. During my first attempt I began clearing my thoughts and was successful in that. Eventually I began to see kaleidoscope-like patterns and I could feel my eyes moving very quickly (I couldn't be aware of my eyes during REM sleep, could I?). I began feeling sensations of twisting and falling. This happened more than once and then stopped as I was concentrating on it far too hard. Later I lost my concentration and feel asleep. I was wondering if this had happened to anyone else, and if I was actually maintaining consciencness into sleep or if I had just imagined the whole thing.