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"Locals dub this place the Bermuda Triangle of Transylvania," explains a local guide, his breath producing wisps of mist in the chilly night air. "Countless visitors have gone missing here, some say it's a portal to a parallel world." Marius is guiding a guest on a nocturnal tour through commonly known as the planet's most ghostly grove: Hoia-Baciu, an area covering one square mile of old-growth local woods on the fringes of the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

Centuries of Mystery

Accounts of strange happenings here date back hundreds of years – the grove is titled for a local shepherd who is believed to have disappeared in the far-off times, together with 200 of his sheep. But Hoia-Baciu gained global recognition in 1968, when an army specialist named Emil Barnea captured on film what he described as a UFO hovering above a round opening in the centre of the forest.

Numerous entered this place and failed to return. But rest assured," he states, turning to his guest with a grin. "Our tours have a perfect safety record."

In the decades since, Hoia-Baciu has brought in yogis, traditional medicine people, UFO researchers and supernatural researchers from across the world, interested in encountering the unusual forces reported to reverberate through the forest.

Current Risks

Although it is among the planet's leading pilgrimage sites for lovers of the paranormal, the forest is at risk. The western districts of Cluj-Napoca – an innovative digital cluster of a population exceeding 400,000, called the tech capital of the region – are expanding, and developers are campaigning for permission to cut down the woods to erect housing complexes.

Aside from a small area housing area-specific Mediterranean oak trees, this woodland is not officially protected, but Marius believes that the initiative he was instrumental in creating – the Hoia-Baciu Project – will help to change that, motivating the government officials to appreciate the forest's value as a travel hotspot.

Spooky Experiences

When small sticks and fall foliage split and rustle beneath their shoes, the guide recounts various local legends and reported ghostly incidents here.

• A popular tale recounts a five-year-old girl disappearing during a family picnic, later to return half a decade later with no recollection of the events, having not aged a day, her garments lacking the smallest trace of dust.
• Frequent accounts describe smartphones and imaging devices inexplicably shutting down on stepping into the forest.
• Reactions range from complete terror to feelings of joy.
• Various visitors state noticing strange rashes on their skin, detecting ghostly voices through the woodland, or feel palms pushing them, despite being sure they are alone.

Research Efforts

Despite several of the tales may be unverifiable, there is much before my eyes that is undeniably strange. Throughout the area are vegetation whose bases are warped and gnarled into unusual forms.

Various suggestions have been suggested to clarify the deformed trees: powerful storms could have altered the growth, or typically increased radiation levels in the earth cause their strange formation.

But formal examinations have found insufficient proof.

The Legendary Opening

The expert's tours permit guests to engage in a modest investigation of their own. As we approach the meadow in the woods where Barnea captured his renowned UFO pictures, he gives the traveler an electromagnetic field detector which measures EMF readings.

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

The plants immediately cease as we emerge into a flawless round. The sole vegetation is the trimmed turf beneath the ground; it's clear that it hasn't been mown, and appears that this strange clearing is natural, not the creation of landscaping.

Fact Versus Fiction

The broader region is a area which stirs the imagination, where the line is indistinct between fact and folklore. In rural Romanian communities belief persists in strigoi ("screamers") – undead, form-changing vampires, who return from burial sites to haunt local communities.

The famous author's renowned character Dracula is forever associated with Transylvania, and the legendary fortress – a Saxon monolith located on a stone formation in the mountain range – is keenly marketed as "the count's residence".

But even folklore-rich Transylvania – actually, "the land past the woods" – appears real and understandable in contrast to the haunted grove, which seem to be, for factors related to radiation, climatic or purely mythical, a hub for fantasy projection.

"Within this forest," the guide comments, "the division between fact and fiction is remarkably blurred."