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"Locals dub this location an enigmatic zone of Transylvania," explains a local guide, the air from his lungs creating puffs of condensation in the crisp evening air. "Countless visitors have gone missing here, it's thought it's an entrance to another dimension." The guide is escorting a traveler on a nocturnal tour through commonly known as the planet's most ghostly grove: Hoia-Baciu, a square mile of primeval native woodland on the edges of the Transylvanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

A Long History of the Unexplained

Reports of strange happenings here date back a long time – the forest is called after a regional herder who is said to have vanished in the far-off times, accompanied by 200 of his sheep. But Hoia-Baciu gained global recognition in 1968, when a military technician known as Emil Barnea captured on film what he claimed was a unidentified flying object floating above a round opening in the middle of the forest.

Numerous entered this place and never came out. But no need to fear," he adds, facing his guest with a smirk. "Our excursions have a 100% return rate."

In the years that followed, Hoia-Baciu has brought in meditation experts, traditional medicine people, extraterrestrial investigators and supernatural researchers from across the world, eager to feel the unusual forces reported to reverberate through the forest.

Current Risks

Although it is a top global pilgrimage sites for paranormal enthusiasts, the grove is under threat. The western suburbs of Cluj-Napoca – a modern tech hub of a population exceeding 400,000, known as the tech capital of eastern Europe – are expanding, and construction companies are pushing for approval to cut down the woods to build apartment blocks.

Barring a limited section home to locally rare Mediterranean oak trees, the forest is not officially protected, but the guide is confident that the company he helped establish – the Hoia-Baciu Project – will assist in altering this, encouraging the authorities to appreciate the forest's value as a visitor destination.

Eerie Encounters

As twigs and seasonal debris break and crackle beneath their footwear, the guide describes various folk tales and claimed supernatural events here.

• A well-known account tells of a little girl vanishing during a family picnic, later to reappear after five years with no memory of her experience, showing no signs of aging a day, her clothes without the slightest speck of dust.
• Frequent accounts explain smartphones and camera equipment inexplicably shutting down on stepping into the forest.
• Emotional responses vary from absolute fear to feelings of joy.
• Some people state noticing bizarre skin irritations on their bodies, detecting unseen murmurs through the woodland, or sense fingers clutching them, despite being sure they are alone.

Study Attempts

While many of the stories may be hard to prove, there are many things clearly observable that is undeniably strange. Everywhere you look are plants whose bases are bent and twisted into unusual forms.

Multiple explanations have been suggested to clarify the misshapen plants: strong gales could have bent the saplings, or inherently elevated electromagnetic fields in the earth account for their strange formation.

But scientific investigations have turned up no satisfactory evidence.

The Notorious Meadow

The guide's excursions permit guests to take part in a little scientific inquiry of their own. As we approach the meadow in the trees where Barnea photographed his renowned UFO images, he hands the visitor an EMF meter which detects EMF readings.

"We're entering the most active section of the forest," he says. "Try to detect something."

The vegetation immediately cease as we emerge into a flawless round. The sole vegetation is the low vegetation beneath their shoes; it's clear that it's not maintained, and appears that this unusual opening is natural, not the work of landscaping.

Fact Versus Fiction

This part of Romania is a area which stirs the imagination, where the line is unclear between reality and legend. In traditional settlements superstition remains in strigoi ("screamers") – otherworldly, appearance-altering bloodsuckers, who rise from their graves to terrorise nearby villages.

Bram Stoker's well-known vampire Count Dracula is always connected with Transylvania, and the legendary fortress – an ancient structure situated on a stone formation in the Transylvanian Alps – is actively advertised as "Dracula's Castle".

But despite legend-filled Transylvania – actually, "the place beyond the forest" – feels solid and predictable in contrast to these eerie woods, which appear to be, for causes radioactive, environmental or entirely legendary, a center for creative energy.

"Within this forest," Marius says, "the boundary between reality and imagination is extremely fine."