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"People refer to this location the Bermuda Triangle of Transylvania," remarks a local guide, the air from his lungs creating wisps of condensation in the cold night air. "Countless individuals have gone missing here, many believe it's a portal to a parallel world." The guide is escorting a traveler on a evening stroll through what is often described as the planet's most ghostly forest: Hoia-Baciu, an area covering one square mile of primeval local woods on the outskirts of the metropolis of Cluj-Napoca.

Centuries of Mystery

Reports of strange happenings here go back hundreds of years – the forest is titled for a local shepherd who is said to have vanished in the distant past, together with his entire flock. But Hoia-Baciu achieved global recognition in 1968, when a military technician called Emil Barnea took a picture of what he described as a UFO suspended above a circular clearing in the middle of the forest.

Numerous entered this place and never came out. But no need to fear," he continues, turning to the traveler with a smirk. "Our guided walks have a 100% return rate."

In the decades since, Hoia-Baciu has attracted yoga practitioners, shamans, ufologists and ghost hunters from worldwide, curious to experience the strange energies reported to reverberate through the forest.

Current Risks

Despite being among the planet's leading pilgrimage sites for paranormal enthusiasts, the forest is under threat. The outlying areas of Cluj-Napoca – an innovative digital cluster of a population exceeding 400,000, known as the tech capital of eastern Europe – are encroaching, and developers are pushing for approval to clear the trees to construct residential buildings.

Aside from a small area containing regionally uncommon Mediterranean oak trees, the grove is without conservation status, but Marius is confident that the initiative he co-founded – a local conservation effort – will help to change that, persuading the local administrators to acknowledge the forest's importance as a travel hotspot.

Eerie Encounters

While branches and autumn leaves break and crackle beneath their boots, Marius describes numerous traditional stories and alleged supernatural events here.

• One famous story recounts a young child disappearing during a family outing, later to rematerialise after five years with complete amnesia of what had happened, showing no signs of aging a moment, her clothes without the slightest speck of soil.
• Regular stories explain mobile phones and imaging devices mysteriously turning off on entering the woods.
• Reactions include complete terror to states of ecstasy.
• Some people state seeing bizarre skin irritations on their bodies, detecting disembodied whispers through the trees, or experience palms pushing them, despite being convinced they're by themselves.

Study Attempts

While many of the stories may be hard to prove, there is much clearly observable that is definitely bizarre. Throughout the area are plants whose stems are curved and contorted into bizarre configurations.

Multiple explanations have been suggested to clarify the abnormal growth: that hurricane winds could have shaped the young trees, or naturally high radiation levels in the earth cause their strange formation.

But research studies have discovered no satisfactory evidence.

The Notorious Meadow

The guide's tours permit guests to take part in a small-scale research of their own. Upon reaching the clearing in the woods where Barnea captured his well-known UFO images, he passes the visitor an EMF meter which measures electromagnetic fields.

"We're entering the most active section of the forest," he states. "See what you can find."

The plants immediately cease as the group enters into a complete ring. The only greenery is the trimmed turf beneath their shoes; it's clear that it hasn't been mown, and appears that this strange clearing is natural, not the result of human hands.

Fact Versus Fiction

Transylvania generally is a area which inspires creativity, where the border is blurred between truth and myth. In countryside villages faith continues in strigoi ("screamers") – otherworldly, shapeshifting creatures, who rise from their graves to haunt local communities.

The novelist's well-known vampire Count Dracula is permanently linked with Transylvania, and Bran Castle – a medieval building located on a cliff edge in the mountain range – is actively advertised as "the count's residence".

But even myth-shrouded Transylvania – actually, "the territory after the grove" – seems solid and predictable in contrast to the haunted grove, which give the impression of being, for reasons nuclear, environmental or simply folkloric, a hub for fantasy projection.

"Within this forest," the guide comments, "the boundary between fact and fiction is very thin."