The first encounter I had was when I was 10 years old.  I spent the night with a friend of mine and we went into her parents' bathroom for something or another.  When we were walking back into the hallway it was as if we were frozen in time.  I mean we could not move at all.  Then in the distance we both heard what appeared to be horses and distant voices.  As the noise got close to us we found out what it was.  

Coming right down her hallway was a horse-drawn carriage.  The first feeling that I got was that this was a funeral procession.  I saw not only the horse and carriage but also three figures of men dressed in coats with tails and top hats.  One of the apparitions turned his head directly toward us, tipped his hat, and then the apparitions went through the wall and disappeared.  I knew I wasn't crazy because my friend  saw the exact same thing but to this day she refuses to talk about it.