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"They call this location the Bermuda Triangle of Transylvania," states a local guide, the air from his lungs forming clouds of mist in the chilly dusk atmosphere. "So many visitors have gone missing here, many believe it's a portal to a parallel world." Marius is leading a traveler on a night walk through commonly known as the planet's most ghostly forest: Hoia-Baciu, a section spanning 640 acres of ancient local woods on the outskirts of the Transylvanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

Hundreds of Years of Enigma

Reports of strange happenings here go back centuries – the grove is titled for a area shepherd who is reportedly went missing in the long ago, along with his entire flock. But Hoia-Baciu came to global recognition in 1968, when a defense worker named Emil Barnea photographed what he claimed was a flying saucer floating above a circular clearing in the centre of the forest.

Numerous entered this place and failed to return. But no need to fear," he continues, turning to the visitor with a smirk. "Our tours have a 100% return rate."

In the time after, Hoia-Baciu has attracted meditation experts, traditional medicine people, extraterrestrial investigators and supernatural researchers from across the world, interested in encountering the strange energies said to echo through the forest.

Modern Threats

Despite being among the planet's leading hotspots for lovers of the paranormal, this woodland is under threat. The western suburbs of Cluj-Napoca – an innovative digital cluster of more than 400,000 people, called the innovation center of eastern Europe – are advancing, and real estate firms are campaigning for permission to clear the trees to construct residential buildings.

Aside from a few hectares containing regionally uncommon oak varieties, the grove is without conservation status, but Marius is confident that the organization he co-founded – a dedicated preservation group – will help to change that, motivating the authorities to recognise the forest's value as a travel hotspot.

Chilling Events

As twigs and seasonal debris break and crackle beneath their shoes, Marius tells various local legends and reported ghostly incidents here.

• A popular tale tells of a five-year-old girl vanishing during a family outing, only to return after five years with no memory of what had happened, without aging a day, her garments without the slightest speck of dust.
• Frequent accounts detail mobile phones and photography gear inexplicably shutting down on entering the woods.
• Emotional responses include full-blown dread to states of ecstasy.
• Certain individuals claim noticing unusual marks on their arms, hearing unseen murmurs through the forest, or sense palms pushing them, despite being certain nobody is nearby.

Scientific Investigations

Despite several of the accounts may be hard to prove, numerous elements visibly present that is undeniably strange. Throughout the area are plants whose stems are warped and gnarled into bizarre configurations.

Multiple explanations have been proposed to explain the abnormal growth: that hurricane winds could have altered the growth, or inherently elevated electromagnetic fields in the earth account for their unusual development.

But formal examinations have discovered inconclusive results.

The Famous Clearing

Marius's excursions permit visitors to engage in a small-scale research of their own. As we approach the opening in the woods where Barnea captured his well-known UFO pictures, he passes the visitor an ghost-hunting device which detects energy patterns.

"We're venturing into the most energetic section of the forest," he comments. "Discover what's here."

The vegetation abruptly end as the group enters into a perfect circle. The single plant life is the low vegetation beneath the ground; it's apparent that it's naturally occurring, and seems that this unusual opening is wild, not the work of people.

Fact Versus Fiction

Transylvania generally is a location which inspires creativity, where the division is unclear between truth and myth. In traditional settlements superstition remains in strigoi ("screamers") – otherworldly, appearance-altering creatures, who rise from their graves to frighten regional populations.

The famous author's renowned vampire Count Dracula is forever associated with Transylvania, and the historic stronghold – an ancient structure perched on a rocky outcrop in the Transylvanian Alps – is actively advertised as "Dracula's Castle".

But even folklore-rich Transylvania – truly, "the place beyond the forest" – seems real and understandable versus this spooky forest, which give the impression of being, for factors nuclear, atmospheric or simply folkloric, a hub for fantasy projection.

"Inside these woods," Marius comments, "the division between truth and fantasy is very thin."