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"People refer to this place the Bermuda Triangle of Transylvania," states a tour guide, his breath creating clouds of mist in the crisp night air. "So many individuals have disappeared here, many believe it's a portal to a different realm." Marius is guiding a traveler on a night walk through frequently labeled as the planet's most ghostly grove: Hoia-Baciu, an area covering one square mile of primeval native woodland on the edges of the metropolis of Cluj-Napoca.

Centuries of Mystery

Stories of bizarre occurrences here extend back hundreds of years – this woodland is called after a regional herder who is believed to have disappeared in the long ago, together with 200 of his sheep. But Hoia-Baciu gained worldwide fame in 1968, when a military technician called Emil Barnea captured on film what he claimed was a unidentified flying object suspended above a round opening in the heart of the forest.

Numerous entered this place and failed to return. But rest assured," he continues, addressing his guest with a grin. "Our guided walks have a flawless completion rate."

In the time after, Hoia-Baciu has brought in yoga practitioners, traditional medicine people, extraterrestrial investigators and ghost hunters from around the globe, interested in encountering the unusual forces said to echo through the forest.

Modern Threats

Although it is one of the world's premier pilgrimage sites for supernatural fans, the grove is facing danger. The outlying areas of Cluj-Napoca – a contemporary technology center of more than 400,000 people, called the tech capital of the region – are advancing, and construction companies are pushing for permission to clear the trees to erect housing complexes.

Except for a few hectares home to area-specific Mediterranean oak trees, the forest is lacking legal protection, but the guide is confident that the organization he was instrumental in creating – a dedicated preservation group – will help to change that, motivating the local administrators to appreciate the forest's value as a travel hotspot.

Spooky Experiences

When small sticks and fall foliage snap and crunch beneath their footwear, Marius describes some of the local legends and claimed ghostly incidents here.

• A popular tale tells of a young child disappearing during a family outing, only to rematerialise half a decade later with no recollection of what had happened, showing no signs of aging a moment, her garments lacking the tiniest bit of dirt.
• Regular stories describe mobile phones and photography gear inexplicably shutting down on entering the woods.
• Emotional responses range from full-blown dread to moments of euphoria.
• Various visitors claim noticing unusual marks on their arms, perceiving unseen murmurs through the trees, or sense fingers clutching them, despite being certain nobody is nearby.

Study Attempts

While many of the accounts may be unverifiable, numerous elements before my eyes that is undeniably strange. All around are vegetation whose trunks are warped and gnarled into unusual forms.

Various suggestions have been given to explain the deformed trees: powerful storms could have shaped the young trees, or inherently elevated radioactivity in the ground explain their strange formation.

But research studies have turned up insufficient proof.

The Legendary Opening

Marius's tours permit participants to take part in a modest investigation of their own. Upon reaching the clearing in the woods where Barnea photographed his famous UFO photographs, he hands the visitor an electromagnetic field detector which detects energy patterns.

"We're stepping into the most powerful part of the forest," he states. "Discover what's here."

The vegetation suddenly stop dead as they step into a flawless round. The only greenery is the low vegetation beneath our feet; it's clear that it's naturally occurring, and appears that this bizarre meadow is natural, not the creation of human hands.

Fact Versus Fiction

The broader region is a place which fuels fantasy, where the border is unclear between fact and folklore. In traditional settlements superstition remains in strigoi ("screamers") – supernatural, shapeshifting bloodsuckers, who emerge from tombs to haunt nearby villages.

The novelist's well-known character Dracula is permanently linked with Transylvania, and the historic stronghold – an ancient structure situated on a stone formation in the mountain range – is keenly marketed as "Dracula's Castle".

But despite myth-shrouded Transylvania – truly, "the place beyond the forest" – seems tangible and comprehensible compared to these eerie woods, which appear to be, for causes related to radiation, atmospheric or entirely legendary, a hub for fantasy projection.

"Inside these woods," Marius says, "the division between truth and fantasy is very thin."