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"They call this location the Bermuda Triangle of Transylvania," explains a tour guide, the air from his lungs producing wisps of mist in the cold dusk atmosphere. "Countless people have vanished here, many believe it's a portal to another dimension." Marius is escorting a visitor on a evening stroll through what is often described as the globe's spookiest grove: Hoia-Baciu, an area covering one square mile of old-growth local woods on the edges of the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

Centuries of Mystery

Accounts of bizarre occurrences here date back centuries – the forest is titled for a local shepherd who is believed to have disappeared in the far-off times, along with his entire flock. But Hoia-Baciu came to worldwide fame in 1968, when a defense worker called Emil Barnea photographed what he reported as a unidentified flying object suspended above a round opening in the middle of the forest.

Numerous entered this place and failed to return. But don't worry," he states, facing the traveler with a grin. "Our guided walks have a flawless completion rate."

In the decades since, Hoia-Baciu has brought in yogis, shamans, UFO researchers and supernatural researchers from worldwide, interested in encountering the unusual forces reported to reverberate through the forest.

Modern Threats

Despite being a top global pilgrimage sites for paranormal enthusiasts, this woodland is at risk. The western suburbs of Cluj-Napoca – a contemporary technology center of a population exceeding 400,000, called the innovation center of Eastern Europe – are expanding, and developers are pushing for permission to cut down the woods to erect housing complexes.

Aside from a few hectares housing regionally uncommon Mediterranean oak trees, the forest is lacking legal protection, but Marius hopes that the initiative he co-founded – a local conservation effort – will help to change that, encouraging the authorities to recognise the forest's significance as a tourist attraction.

Eerie Encounters

As twigs and fall foliage split and rustle beneath their footwear, Marius tells various local legends and claimed paranormal happenings here.

• A well-known account recounts a young child disappearing during a family outing, then to reappear after five years with complete amnesia of what had happened, without aging a day, her garments lacking the slightest speck of soil.
• Regular stories describe mobile phones and imaging devices unexpectedly failing on entering the woods.
• Feelings range from full-blown dread to states of ecstasy.
• Some people claim seeing bizarre skin irritations on their arms, perceiving disembodied whispers through the forest, or sense fingers clutching them, despite being certain nobody is nearby.

Research Efforts

Despite several of the tales may be unverifiable, there is much clearly observable that is undeniably strange. Everywhere you look are vegetation whose trunks are bent and twisted into unusual forms.

Various suggestions have been suggested to explain the abnormal growth: that hurricane winds could have shaped the young trees, or naturally high radioactivity in the earth account for their unusual development.

But formal examinations have discovered no satisfactory evidence.

The Notorious Meadow

The expert's walks allow guests to engage in a small-scale research of their own. As we approach the clearing in the forest where Barnea captured his renowned UFO photographs, he hands the traveler an EMF meter which measures energy patterns.

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

The vegetation suddenly stop dead as we emerge into a complete ring. The single plant life is the short grass beneath the ground; it's obvious that it hasn't been mown, and appears that this unusual opening is wild, not the creation of landscaping.

The Blurred Line

Transylvania generally is a area which stirs the imagination, where the division is blurred between fact and folklore. In rural Romanian communities belief persists in strigoi ("screamers") – otherworldly, shapeshifting vampires, who emerge from tombs to haunt regional populations.

The famous author's famous fictional vampire is forever associated with Transylvania, and Bran Castle – a medieval building located on a cliff edge in the Transylvanian Alps – is heavily promoted as "the vampire's home".

But despite legend-filled Transylvania – literally, "the place beyond the forest" – appears solid and predictable compared to the haunted grove, which give the impression of being, for causes related to radiation, climatic or entirely legendary, a center for human imaginative power.

"Inside these woods," the guide states, "the division between reality and imagination is very thin."