Have you ever heard of crepitus? This is grinding, popping or cracking of the neck. It happens for different reasons. I have grinding, most likely due to bone on bone rubbing on each other. Freaky. And I've had cracking too. I wonder if your muscles aren't just a bit tight and hence the cracking. That they can't find anything anatomically wrong (I've had x rays that show my bones on top of each other, result of soft tissue damage after a car accident . . . MORE than 25 years ago.) so they believe your issues have to due with anxiety and depression. Do you suffer these? Are you often worried and anxious? https://www.spine-health.com/conditions/neck-pain/neck-cracking-and-grinding-what-does-it-mean
If I move my head to the left, I feel a pop or lighting bolt begind to the head in the right side on the top on my head and behind my right ear. It happens 1 or 2 times a year.
This may be the neck-tongue syndrome. Have you noticed numbness in your tongue? This numbness does not always pass. I have it, it feels more or less how you describe it. I feel like a lightning bolt or something exploded behind my head that rises upwards.