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"People refer to this spot the Bermuda Triangle of Transylvania," remarks a tour guide, his breath creating wisps of mist in the crisp dusk atmosphere. "Numerous people have gone missing here, it's thought it's an entrance to a different realm." The guide is leading a traveler on a nocturnal tour through frequently labeled as the planet's most ghostly grove: Hoia-Baciu, an area covering one square mile of ancient native woodland on the fringes of the Transylvanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

Centuries of Mystery

Reports of strange happenings here go back a long time – the grove is called after a regional herder who is believed to have disappeared in the far-off times, along with 200 of his sheep. But Hoia-Baciu gained international attention in 1968, when a military technician known as Emil Barnea photographed what he described as a flying saucer floating above a oval meadow in the centre of the forest.

Countless ventured inside and vanished without trace. But don't worry," he continues, facing the visitor with a smirk. "Our tours have a perfect safety record."

In the time after, Hoia-Baciu has drawn meditation experts, shamans, extraterrestrial investigators and supernatural researchers from worldwide, curious to experience the strange energies reported to reverberate through the forest.

Modern Threats

It may be one of the world's premier hotspots for lovers of the paranormal, the forest is at risk. The western districts of Cluj-Napoca – a modern tech hub of more than 400,000 people, called the Silicon Valley of Eastern Europe – are advancing, and construction companies are campaigning for permission to cut down the woods to build apartment blocks.

Aside from a small area housing regionally uncommon specific tree species, the forest is without conservation status, but the guide is confident that the initiative he co-founded – a dedicated preservation group – will contribute to improving the situation, motivating the authorities to recognise the forest's importance as a visitor destination.

Chilling Events

As twigs and seasonal debris split and rustle beneath their boots, Marius describes various traditional stories and reported paranormal happenings here.

• One famous story tells of a five-year-old girl vanishing during a group gathering, only to return half a decade later with no memory of her experience, showing no signs of aging a moment, her attire shy of the slightest speck of dirt.
• Regular stories explain cellphones and photography gear inexplicably shutting down on entering the woods.
• Emotional responses range from absolute fear to moments of euphoria.
• Various visitors claim observing strange rashes on their skin, perceiving disembodied whispers through the woodland, or feel fingers clutching them, even when certain nobody is nearby.

Research Efforts

While many of the accounts may be impossible to confirm, there are many things clearly observable that is undeniably strange. All around are plants whose trunks are warped and gnarled into bizarre configurations.

Multiple explanations have been suggested to clarify the abnormal growth: powerful storms could have bent the saplings, or naturally high radioactivity in the soil account for their strange formation.

But formal examinations have discovered no satisfactory evidence.

The Notorious Meadow

Marius's tours allow visitors to take part in a little scientific inquiry of their own. Upon reaching the opening in the trees where Barnea photographed his famous UFO pictures, he gives the visitor an ghost-hunting device which detects EMF readings.

"We're stepping into the most energetic section of the forest," he says. "See what you can find."

The vegetation immediately cease as the group enters into a flawless round. The single plant life is the short grass beneath the ground; it's obvious that it hasn't been mown, and looks that this unusual opening is organic, not the result of landscaping.

Fact Versus Fiction

The broader region is a area which stirs the imagination, where the division is indistinct between truth and myth. In traditional settlements belief persists in strigoi ("screamers") – otherworldly, appearance-altering bloodsuckers, who return from burial sites to haunt local communities.

The famous author's renowned vampire Count Dracula is forever associated with Transylvania, and Bran Castle – a Saxon monolith located on a stone formation in the mountain range – is heavily promoted as "Dracula's Castle".

But even legend-filled Transylvania – truly, "the land past the woods" – seems real and understandable versus these eerie woods, which appear to be, for factors radioactive, environmental or entirely legendary, a nexus for fantasy projection.

"In Hoia-Baciu," Marius comments, "the boundary between fact and fiction is remarkably blurred."