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"They call this spot the Bermuda Triangle of Transylvania," states a local guide, his exhalation forming wisps of vapor in the cold night air. "Countless people have vanished here, many believe there's a gateway to a parallel world." This expert is escorting a guest on a evening stroll through what is often described as the planet's most ghostly grove: Hoia-Baciu, a section spanning 640 acres of primeval indigenous forest on the outskirts of the Transylvanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

A Long History of the Unexplained

Accounts of unusual events here date back centuries – the forest is called after a area shepherd who is said to have vanished in the long ago, along with two hundred animals. But Hoia-Baciu came to international attention in 1968, when an army specialist known as Emil Barnea photographed what he claimed was a flying saucer suspended above a round opening in the centre of the forest.

Many came in here and vanished without trace. But don't worry," he states, addressing the traveler with a smirk. "Our excursions have a 100% return rate."

In the time after, Hoia-Baciu has brought in yoga practitioners, traditional medicine people, ufologists and paranormal investigators from across the world, interested in encountering the unusual forces believed to resonate through the forest.

Current Risks

Although it is a top global hotspots for paranormal enthusiasts, this woodland is under threat. The western districts of Cluj-Napoca – an innovative digital cluster of over 400,000 residents, described as the tech capital of Eastern Europe – are encroaching, and real estate firms are advocating for permission to cut down the woods to build apartment blocks.

Barring a limited section housing locally rare oak varieties, the forest is lacking legal protection, but the guide believes that the initiative he helped establish – a local conservation effort – will help to change that, motivating the local administrators to recognise the forest's value as a tourist attraction.

Chilling Events

While branches and seasonal debris snap and crunch beneath their shoes, Marius tells numerous traditional stories and claimed supernatural events here.

• One famous story tells of a five-year-old girl vanishing during a family outing, then to reappear after five years with no memory of what had happened, without aging a day, her clothes without the slightest speck of dust.
• Frequent accounts explain smartphones and photography gear unexpectedly failing on venturing inside.
• Emotional responses vary from absolute fear to feelings of joy.
• Various visitors report seeing unusual marks on their arms, detecting unseen murmurs through the woodland, or experience palms pushing them, even when sure they are alone.

Study Attempts

Although numerous of the accounts may be unverifiable, there are many things visibly present that is undeniably strange. Throughout the area are trees whose trunks are warped and gnarled into fantastical shapes.

Various suggestions have been proposed to explain the misshapen plants: strong gales could have bent the saplings, or inherently elevated radiation levels in the earth cause their crooked growth.

But scientific investigations have turned up inconclusive results.

The Famous Clearing

Marius's excursions permit guests to engage in a little scientific inquiry of their own. As we approach the clearing in the woods where Barnea photographed his well-known UFO images, he gives the traveler an electromagnetic field detector which measures energy patterns.

"We're venturing into the most active part of the forest," he says. "Discover what's here."

The vegetation abruptly end as they step into a flawless round. The sole vegetation is the short grass beneath our feet; it's clear that it hasn't been mown, and looks that this unusual opening is wild, not the creation of human hands.

The Blurred Line

Transylvania generally is a area which inspires creativity, where the border is blurred between truth and myth. In rural Romanian communities faith continues in strigoi ("screamers") – supernatural, appearance-altering bloodsuckers, who rise from their graves to haunt regional populations.

The famous author's well-known vampire Count Dracula is always connected with Transylvania, and the legendary fortress – a medieval building located on a stone formation in the mountain range – is heavily promoted as "Dracula's Castle".

But despite folklore-rich Transylvania – actually, "the place beyond the forest" – appears solid and predictable in contrast to the haunted grove, which seem to be, for reasons nuclear, environmental or entirely legendary, a center for fantasy projection.

"Inside these woods," Marius states, "the division between reality and imagination is extremely fine."