Spinning lug nut.....how can this be possible?

Here is a weird one. Went camping and got a flat tire 5 miles from the destination. Dirt shoulder and scary place to try and change a tire.

Start at it. One lug nut is just spinning. Make the decision that the stud itself must be spinning inside the wheel. Fire up the generator and use a cut off wheel to cut the tire off. We limp it 10mph to the place we are camping and plan is to call AAA.

We do. Triple A comes out with his impact. Same deal the lug nut is just spinning. Says he needs to talk with management. Needs a special tool that Napa caries.

They screw us and dont care. Said another technician was coming out but never shows. So next plan is cut off the fancy cover that hides the big nut that holds on the bearing. Plan is to remove the wheel and drill out the stud from behind.

Make that happen and drill away. Did that for awhile until every drill bit i have is smoked. Start asking fellow campers if they have any twist drills and nobody had any.

One guy offered his awesome Milwaukee battery powered impact gun earlier in the day. He came over again and i asked to use it. Sure enough the lug nut popped right off!!

At this point our assumption is all my beating and banging on the wheel stud must have made it stick enough for the impact gun to finally remove the nut.

Now here is the crazy part. What exactly was spinning? We are off road enthusiasts who are pretty familiar with nuts and bolts. We think the outer shell of the lug nut might have been spinning.

When we look at the wheel i dont see any sign of the stud itself spinning around.

How can a socket form around the hexagon lug and spin?

There is free play when i hold the lug nut and twist back and forth. Like 1mm of play.