strange scared behavior

i wonder if anyone has had this experience with their dog or seen this kind of behavior:

i went camping with sparky a week ago near a suburban area. around 7 am, while i was preparing breakfast, i saw sparky behaving strangely around the tent. he just seemed very unsettled as if something got onto him. i called him over and he came with his tail tucked between his legs and i felt his skin for any bites, any insects, etc. there were none. then he ran back to the tent and started to circle it, trying to find a way inside. so, i let him in, and he immediately curled up as if he felt much safer. then when i wasn't looking, he sneaked into my sleeping bag....

there was nothing strange at our camp, which was near a lake. no snakes, bees, etc. the park ranger said there are no poisonous animals she knows of around there, except for a scorpion, but which has never bit anyone.

later, my dog came out of the tent and urged me go to the car. which i did, thinking he felt safer inside the car. the only time he had wanted to go back to the car (when outside) was when we were escaping a hive of beens.

he returned to normal about an hour later and is fine now. he has never shown this scared behavior before or have ever been scared of anything, including those bees or even rattle snakes that have crossed our paths.

so, did he see a ghost?

New environment, new things...different noises...any thing can spook a dog. I have seen weird things spook normally sound dogs and I have seen some dogs that are just fearful of anything they havent seen before. It's called the fight or flight factor...if you don't recongnize a sound and area etc then be prepared to fight or flee. It could have been as simple as a leaf blowing past him.
With one of my Newf's (genetically fearful), I cannot move a house plant, furniture etc without her getting freaked out and slinking around the moved or new object for weeks at a time...sometimes she learns the object won't kill her....and sometimes I have had to remove the object. I also took a friends Newf out one day and he was having a grand day until a plastic bag whisped by us in the wind...he freaked out so badly and it took me a full 1/2 hour to calm him down and continue walking. One of my Newf's almost took a heart attack the first time I lifted a bag of dog food up off the ground onto my shoulder...he had never seen a person carrying around a bag of dog food before. Poor thing. Yes, dogs can spook easily...it's a basic survival mechanisim...survival of the fittist or quickest.

I agree with Athe. I was thinking maybe you had a visitor during the night and he spelled the scent. Maybe a racoon, bear or anything thing that was out of the ordinary.