I have a 1995 Saab 900 and last night something strange happened and doesn't start...

[aerorock]

...now. Help please? I have a 1995 Saab 900 and last night while I was driving, my dashboard lights went out. I figured that's strange but they came back on almost immediately so I kind of ignored it. It made the beeping noise but my text display panel doesn't work.

But later on, the same thing happened, but only some of the lights on the dashboards went off and some came on and my car just stalled. I pulled over and at some points ALL of the dashboard lights went on and then at one point only a few of them went on. It's obviously not the battery or my hazards wouldn't have worked. The car would not start no matter what. It started to make a slight grinding noise when I held the key in the ignition. So I had to get it towed. I'll be honest, I don't know much about cars but I want to have a good idea of what to explain when I get the car looked at.

Any ideas what this could be?

Thanks