I've experienced a similar problem with a Thunderbolt port on a machine. Nothing that plugs into the machine would be recognized. Not even a simple USB device. Power cycling multiple times didn't fix it. But powering off and leaving the machine off for a few minutes fixed it.
Given the problem occurred only once, I didn't do any more investigation on why.
I have an Intel NUC 8i5BEH that does this repeatedly. Pain in the backside. The best way to “fix” it that I found quickly is to unplug the NUC and short the power connector for a few seconds. :/
Given the problem occurred only once, I didn't do any more investigation on why.