It was a very nice mild summer day. I worked at that time about 1 mile south of this encounter. As I was driving north bound on Harford Road around noon, I noticed a horse walking along the roadside with a man leading it. (Horses are never seen or walked along this road or area at all. It is densely populated single family home city/ suburbs. Harford Road is a well traveled busy road with plenty of stores, businesses, convenience stores and gas stations; definitely not a place for horses to be led.) As I got closer I slowed down to get a good look at them. Instantly, I noticed the man was dressed in old western like gear from maybe the 1880's. His horse was adorned in old style sleeping mats, water pouches made of leather, worn leather bags, a very old style harness, and a rifle holstered in a tradition side pouch for quick draw on the right side of the horse. The man had a rough worn leather cowboy yet field like hat. He had a fitted brown leather vest on with a rather clean white shirt. He was wearing boots with leather gators over his chins. The oddest thing was he was wearing a 6-shooter long pistol on his right hip with a belt lined with bullets. The last thing I remembered was he had a knife attached to his belt in his back side.
Never once did the man or even the horse peer over at me driving by at 5 mph, nor did they look at any of the cars driving past. So I got real curious if this was a re-en-actor or a ghost from the past. I drove about 1/2 mile up the road and turned left into an abandoned gas stations lot so he would have to pass right by me. As he approached I had my window down and stared right at him, he never made eye contact. Next, I said out loud to him, something to the effect of, "that is a cool costume". No answer or even acknowledgment of my presence. Instantly it hit me that I had my camera with me, so I snapped two shots of him walking past. I sat there watching him walk northward until he was about 100 yards up the road.
Next to my location was a very busy 7-11 store. Extra crowded because it was lunch time. So I went in and mentioned to a few customers if they saw that guy walking a horse in a costume? Everyone said, "No." One guy I remember said that he was sitting out front of the store smoking a cigarette and saw nothing. I quickly left and got in my truck and headed northward to see if I could see him again walking. He was nowhere to be found. I drove up three small side streets to look, but again nothing. My last attempt at confirming what I saw was to stop in a large gun store directly where he was walking towards. I knew all the people that worked here. I asked them if he came in or if they noticed anything, they responded with "nope".
I got the film developed a few days afterward. I was shocked and happy as hell to see that one of the two photos turned out fine and clear. The other picture ended up being very blurred and quite blacked out. I attached the picture for all to view and enjoy as many of family and friends have over the years.
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