Something similar happened to me. I did a RC in my dream by looking at a physician's certificate hanging on the wall. It read "The Head Clinic". I looked away and when I looked back it said the exact same thing and looked exactly the same. So I thought, "it must be real" (despite all the other signs of being in a dream such as being in an unfamiliar place with people I know IRL who live on other continents). I was really frustrated when I woke up knowing I passed up a lucid dream. That prompted me to be more thorough with my reality checks during the day. Now I always ask myself "where am I? Why am I here? Does it look like it should? Who is here with me? What are others doing and what am I doing?" I survey the area and then try and remember what I've been doing for the last while. Depending on where I am I will do the nose plug, jumping, or look at a word or digital clock at least three times and stare at it for a while. It sounds laborious but it takes less than a minute. That way it's ok if a RC fails because you have backup