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"People refer to this location an enigmatic zone of Transylvania," remarks an experienced guide, his breath creating clouds of condensation in the cold night air. "Countless visitors have gone missing here, many believe it's an entrance to another dimension." This expert is escorting a guest on a night walk through frequently labeled as the planet's most ghostly grove: Hoia-Baciu, a square mile of primeval local woods on the fringes of the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

A Long History of the Unexplained

Reports of bizarre occurrences here go back a long time – this woodland is called after a local shepherd who is said to have vanished in the long ago, together with his entire flock. But Hoia-Baciu gained worldwide fame in 1968, when a military technician named Emil Barnea photographed what he described as a unidentified flying object suspended above a round opening in the heart of the forest.

Many came in here and failed to return. But no need to fear," he states, addressing his guest with a grin. "Our excursions have a flawless completion rate."

In the decades since, Hoia-Baciu has attracted meditation experts, traditional medicine people, extraterrestrial investigators and paranormal investigators from around the globe, eager to feel the unusual forces believed to resonate through the forest.

Contemporary Dangers

It may be among the planet's leading destinations for paranormal enthusiasts, the forest is facing danger. The western districts of Cluj-Napoca – an innovative digital cluster of over 400,000 residents, called the innovation center of the region – are advancing, and developers are campaigning for authorization to remove the forest to erect housing complexes.

Barring a few hectares housing locally rare oak varieties, the grove is lacking legal protection, but the guide is confident that the company he was instrumental in creating – a dedicated preservation group – will help to change that, motivating the authorities to appreciate the forest's value as a tourist attraction.

Eerie Encounters

While branches and seasonal debris snap and crunch beneath their footwear, the guide tells some of the folk tales and claimed paranormal happenings here.

• One famous story describes a young child disappearing during a family outing, later to reappear half a decade later with no recollection of her experience, having not aged a day, her attire without the slightest speck of dirt.
• Regular stories detail smartphones and camera equipment unexpectedly failing on entering the woods.
• Reactions include absolute fear to states of ecstasy.
• Various visitors report observing strange rashes on their arms, detecting unseen murmurs through the woodland, or feel fingers clutching them, despite being certain nobody is nearby.

Research Efforts

Despite several of the tales may be hard to prove, there is much before my eyes that is certainly unusual. Throughout the area are plants whose bases are curved and contorted into bizarre configurations.

Multiple explanations have been suggested to clarify the deformed trees: strong gales could have bent the saplings, or naturally high radiation levels in the soil cause their crooked growth.

But formal examinations have discovered insufficient proof.

The Notorious Meadow

Marius's excursions permit visitors to engage in a little scientific inquiry of their own. As we approach the clearing in the trees where Barnea took his well-known UFO photographs, he passes the visitor an ghost-hunting device which registers EMF readings.

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

The trees suddenly stop dead as they step into a perfect circle. The sole vegetation is the trimmed turf beneath our feet; it's apparent that it's naturally occurring, and seems that this bizarre meadow is natural, not the work of people.

Between Reality and Imagination

This part of Romania is a place which stirs the imagination, where the line is indistinct between reality and legend. In traditional settlements belief persists in strigoi ("screamers") – undead, shapeshifting bloodsuckers, who return from burial sites to frighten regional populations.

Bram Stoker's renowned character Dracula is always connected with Transylvania, and the historic stronghold – an ancient structure located on a cliff edge in the Carpathian Mountains – is actively advertised as "the count's residence".

But even folklore-rich Transylvania – actually, "the territory after the grove" – seems solid and predictable in contrast to this spooky forest, which give the impression of being, for causes nuclear, climatic or purely mythical, a center for human imaginative power.

"Within this forest," Marius comments, "the boundary between fact and fiction is extremely fine."