"...a day lasted about 3 normal days...or a night lasted 3 normal nights...after which the sun rose from the opposite horizon and days and nights went back to a normal length. That would happen if the planet stopped rotating for 3 days, then began rotating in the opposite direction"

sheesh Reminds me of a time when my brother came bolting down the stairs, white with fear, saying that his heart had stopped.

Methinks that if Earth stopped from its current 1000+ miles per hour, there would be repercussions beyond just noting that one day had become three days long.