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"Locals dub this location the Bermuda Triangle of Transylvania," explains a tour guide, his exhalation forming wisps of condensation in the chilly dusk atmosphere. "So many visitors have gone missing here, it's thought there's a gateway to a different realm." Marius is escorting a traveler on a evening stroll through what is often described as the world's most haunted woodland: Hoia-Baciu, a section spanning 640 acres of old-growth native woodland on the fringes of the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

Hundreds of Years of Enigma

Accounts of bizarre occurrences here date back a long time – the grove is titled for a area shepherd who is said to have vanished in the distant past, along with two hundred animals. But Hoia-Baciu came to global recognition in 1968, when a defense worker called Emil Barnea photographed what he reported as a flying saucer hovering above a round opening in the heart of the forest.

Many came in here and never came out. But no need to fear," he continues, turning to the traveler with a smirk. "Our tours have a 100% return rate."

In the time after, Hoia-Baciu has brought in yoga practitioners, spiritual healers, ufologists and supernatural researchers from worldwide, interested in encountering the strange energies reported to reverberate through the forest.

Contemporary Dangers

It may be one of the world's premier destinations for paranormal enthusiasts, this woodland is at risk. The western suburbs of Cluj-Napoca – a modern tech hub of over 400,000 residents, described as the innovation center of the region – are advancing, and real estate firms are advocating for authorization to cut down the woods to build apartment blocks.

Barring a few hectares home to regionally uncommon specific tree species, the grove is lacking legal protection, but the guide hopes that the company he co-founded – the Hoia-Baciu Project – will contribute to improving the situation, motivating the authorities to appreciate the forest's value as a visitor destination.

Eerie Encounters

As twigs and seasonal debris snap and crunch beneath their footwear, the guide recounts various local legends and reported supernatural events here.

• A well-known account recounts a young child going missing during a family outing, later to rematerialise five years later with no memory of her experience, showing no signs of aging a moment, her garments without the slightest speck of dirt.
• Regular stories detail smartphones and imaging devices inexplicably shutting down on stepping into the forest.
• Feelings range from absolute fear to states of ecstasy.
• Certain individuals claim observing strange rashes on their skin, hearing unseen murmurs through the forest, or sense hands grabbing them, even when certain nobody is nearby.

Study Attempts

Although numerous of the tales may be impossible to confirm, numerous elements before my eyes that is definitely bizarre. All around are vegetation whose trunks are bent and twisted into unusual forms.

Different theories have been proposed to clarify the deformed trees: strong gales could have altered the growth, or typically increased electromagnetic fields in the ground explain their strange formation.

But formal examinations have discovered no satisfactory evidence.

The Notorious Meadow

The guide's excursions allow participants to take part in a small-scale research of their own. Upon reaching the opening in the forest where Barnea photographed his famous UFO images, he gives the visitor an electromagnetic field detector which registers electromagnetic fields.

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

The trees suddenly stop dead as they step into a flawless round. The only greenery is the trimmed turf beneath our feet; it's apparent that it hasn't been mown, and looks that this strange clearing is organic, not the work of landscaping.

Between Reality and Imagination

Transylvania generally is a area which inspires creativity, where the border is unclear between truth and myth. In rural Romanian communities faith continues in strigoi ("screamers") – supernatural, shapeshifting bloodsuckers, who emerge from tombs to terrorise local communities.

The novelist's renowned character Dracula is forever associated with Transylvania, and Bran Castle – an ancient structure situated on a stone formation in the Transylvanian Alps – is actively advertised as "Dracula's Castle".

But including myth-shrouded Transylvania – truly, "the land past the woods" – feels real and understandable versus the haunted grove, which give the impression of being, for causes nuclear, climatic or purely mythical, a hub for human imaginative power.

"Inside these woods," the guide states, "the division between fact and fiction is very thin."