Pontiac Repair: 97 Firebird electric system shuts down when starting, dome lamps, trip odometer

Question
I have a 97 Firebird with a 3800 type II motor, standard 5 and no electric extras - everything is manual in the car. The car has around 150k miles but has been well maintained. The other day, I tried to start my car. When I turned the key, everything came on as usual until I tried to turn the motor over. Then everything completely turned off. Even the trip odometer and clock reset. I wiggled the key and eventually got it turned on, but it flashed on and off a few times before I got the car stared. No problems once it started, but then it happened again. I killed the car for a few moments to run an errand, and then it exhibited the same symptoms only worse. I got the car started again after many tries. I tried another key and it still happened. It hasn't happened the last 3 times it was driven so I don't know what to think of it. Any ideas as to what to check?

Answer
Hi Michelle:
next time it happens see is you have headlamps open the door and see if the dome lamps come on. If nothing works at all you may have a bad connection at the battery. If the headlamps and or dome lamps work then I would lean towards possably an issue with the ignition switch having a bad set of contacts in it. Good luck :)