noir-ninja's journey

I recently went through an extensive interview process for a position at a tech company. I interviewed with 10 different people over about five hours and even completed a case study that I was told was the best they had received. The day after the final interview, the hiring manager called to personally congratulate me and confirmed that I got the job. He followed up again the next day, mentioning they were finalizing the offer letter. I had initially connected with the opportunity through a recruiter, who also assured me that the job was mine. They asked for my salary expectations, and I indicated I was comfortable with the range they provided. However, fast forward two weeks, and I still hadn’t received the offer letter. I sent follow-up emails to both the hiring manager and HR, but I received no response. Eventually, I called the recruiter, and they informed me that the company’s search was now on hold. I’m left in the dark about what happened. Did they change their mind? Was the position put on hold for reasons beyond the hiring manager's control? I’m curious if others have experienced something similar, where they were told they got the job but then everything went silent before receiving a written offer.