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"People refer to this location the Bermuda Triangle of Transylvania," remarks a local guide, the air from his lungs producing wisps of condensation in the chilly night air. "Countless people have vanished here, it's thought it's a portal to another dimension." The guide is guiding a visitor on a evening stroll through commonly known as the planet's most ghostly grove: Hoia-Baciu, an area covering one square mile of old-growth native woodland on the edges of the Transylvanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

A Long History of the Unexplained

Accounts of strange happenings here extend back centuries – the grove is named after a regional herder who is said to have vanished in the distant past, accompanied by two hundred animals. But Hoia-Baciu gained international attention in 1968, when a defense worker named Emil Barnea captured on film what he reported as a flying saucer hovering above a round opening in the middle of the forest.

Numerous entered this place and vanished without trace. But rest assured," he adds, facing his guest with a smirk. "Our tours have a perfect safety record."

In the years that followed, Hoia-Baciu has drawn yoga practitioners, shamans, ufologists and paranormal investigators from worldwide, interested in encountering the strange energies believed to resonate through the forest.

Modern Threats

It may be a top global destinations for supernatural fans, the grove is facing danger. The western suburbs of Cluj-Napoca – an innovative digital cluster of over 400,000 residents, described as the tech capital of the region – are expanding, and construction companies are pushing for permission to cut down the woods to build apartment blocks.

Barring a few hectares home to regionally uncommon specific tree species, the grove is not officially protected, but Marius is confident that the company he helped establish – the Hoia-Baciu Project – will contribute to improving the situation, motivating the government officials to acknowledge the forest's importance as a visitor destination.

Chilling Events

As twigs and seasonal debris break and crackle beneath their footwear, the guide tells various traditional stories and claimed supernatural events here.

• A popular tale tells of a young child going missing during a group gathering, then to rematerialise five years later with no memory of what had happened, showing no signs of aging a day, her clothes without the slightest speck of dirt.
• More common reports detail cellphones and camera equipment inexplicably shutting down on stepping into the forest.
• Reactions include complete terror to feelings of joy.
• Certain individuals state observing strange rashes on their arms, perceiving disembodied whispers through the trees, or feel fingers clutching them, even when certain nobody is nearby.

Scientific Investigations

Although numerous of the tales may be unverifiable, there is much clearly observable that is undeniably strange. All around are plants whose trunks are bent and twisted into bizarre configurations.

Multiple explanations have been given to clarify the abnormal growth: that hurricane winds could have shaped the young trees, or typically increased radiation levels in the ground account for their crooked growth.

But research studies have found no satisfactory evidence.

The Famous Clearing

The expert's tours enable guests to take part in a small-scale research of their own. As we approach the meadow in the woods where Barnea photographed his well-known UFO photographs, he passes the visitor an electromagnetic field detector which detects electromagnetic fields.

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

The trees abruptly end as they step into a complete ring. The single plant life is the trimmed turf beneath their shoes; it's obvious that it's naturally occurring, and looks that this bizarre meadow is organic, not the work of human hands.

Between Reality and Imagination

The broader region is a area which fuels fantasy, where the division is indistinct between reality and legend. In countryside villages superstition remains in strigoi ("screamers") – undead, appearance-altering vampires, who return from burial sites to frighten local communities.

The famous author's famous vampire Count Dracula is always connected with Transylvania, and the historic stronghold – a medieval building located on a cliff edge in the Transylvanian Alps – is heavily promoted as "the vampire's home".

But including legend-filled Transylvania – truly, "the territory after the grove" – seems tangible and comprehensible versus this spooky forest, which seem to be, for causes related to radiation, atmospheric or entirely legendary, a nexus for creative energy.

"Within this forest," Marius states, "the line between fact and fiction is extremely fine."