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"They call this spot the Bermuda Triangle of Transylvania," remarks a tour guide, the air from his lungs creating wisps of condensation in the crisp night air. "Countless visitors have disappeared here, it's thought it's a portal to another dimension." The guide is leading a traveler on a nocturnal tour through what is often described as the planet's most ghostly grove: Hoia-Baciu, a square mile of old-growth indigenous forest on the fringes of the metropolis of Cluj-Napoca.

Centuries of Mystery

Stories of strange happenings here extend back hundreds of years – the forest is called after a local shepherd who is believed to have disappeared in the distant past, along with two hundred animals. But Hoia-Baciu came to global recognition in 1968, when a military technician called Emil Barnea captured on film what he described as a UFO hovering above a oval meadow in the middle of the forest.

Countless ventured inside and vanished without trace. But rest assured," he continues, turning to the visitor with a smile. "Our guided walks have a perfect safety record."

In the time after, Hoia-Baciu has attracted yoga practitioners, traditional medicine people, extraterrestrial investigators and ghost hunters from across the world, curious to experience the strange energies said to echo through the forest.

Modern Threats

It may be one of the world's premier pilgrimage sites for lovers of the paranormal, this woodland is at risk. The western suburbs of Cluj-Napoca – a contemporary technology center of over 400,000 residents, known as the tech capital of the region – are encroaching, and construction companies are advocating for authorization to clear the trees to build apartment blocks.

Barring a few hectares home to locally rare specific tree species, the forest is without conservation status, but Marius believes that the company he co-founded – the Hoia-Baciu Project – will assist in altering this, motivating the local administrators to recognise the forest's significance as a visitor destination.

Spooky Experiences

As twigs and autumn leaves split and rustle beneath their footwear, the guide describes some of the local legends and reported paranormal happenings here.

• A popular tale tells of a young child going missing during a group gathering, later to return half a decade later with no memory of what had happened, without aging a day, her clothes shy of the smallest trace of dirt.
• Regular stories explain smartphones and camera equipment mysteriously turning off on venturing inside.
• Reactions include complete terror to moments of euphoria.
• Certain individuals claim observing strange rashes on their arms, hearing unseen murmurs through the trees, or experience hands grabbing them, although convinced they're by themselves.

Scientific Investigations

Despite several of the accounts may be hard to prove, numerous elements visibly present that is certainly unusual. All around are plants whose trunks are curved and contorted into unusual forms.

Different theories have been proposed to clarify the deformed trees: powerful storms could have altered the growth, or naturally high electromagnetic fields in the ground account for their crooked growth.

But formal examinations have discovered insufficient proof.

The Famous Clearing

Marius's tours enable guests to participate in a modest investigation of their own. As we approach the opening in the woods where Barnea took his famous UFO pictures, he gives the visitor an ghost-hunting device which registers EMF readings.

"We're stepping into the most energetic section of the forest," he comments. "Try to detect something."

The trees abruptly end as the group enters into a perfect circle. The sole vegetation is the trimmed turf beneath our feet; it's obvious that it hasn't been mown, and appears that this bizarre meadow is natural, not the work of landscaping.

Between Reality and Imagination

Transylvania generally is a place which fuels fantasy, where the division is blurred between fact and folklore. In rural Romanian communities belief persists in strigoi ("screamers") – supernatural, shapeshifting vampires, who emerge from tombs to terrorise nearby villages.

The novelist's famous fictional vampire is always connected with Transylvania, and the legendary fortress – an ancient structure perched on a rocky outcrop in the Carpathian Mountains – is actively advertised as "the count's residence".

But even folklore-rich Transylvania – literally, "the land past the woods" – seems solid and predictable versus this spooky forest, which seem to be, for reasons nuclear, climatic or purely mythical, a hub for creative energy.

"Within this forest," Marius says, "the boundary between fact and fiction is very thin."