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"People refer to this spot a mysterious vortex of Transylvania," states a tour guide, his breath forming wisps of condensation in the crisp evening air. "Numerous individuals have vanished here, it's thought there's a gateway to a different realm." Marius is leading a visitor on a nocturnal tour through frequently labeled as the planet's most ghostly forest: Hoia-Baciu, a square mile of primeval local woods on the edges of the Transylvanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

A Long History of the Unexplained

Reports of strange happenings here extend back hundreds of years – the forest is called after a local shepherd who is believed to have disappeared in the long ago, along with two hundred animals. But Hoia-Baciu came to international attention in 1968, when an army specialist known as Emil Barnea captured on film what he claimed was a unidentified flying object floating above a oval meadow in the heart of the forest.

Many came in here and never came out. But no need to fear," he states, turning to the visitor with a smile. "Our guided walks have a perfect safety record."

In the time after, Hoia-Baciu has attracted yogis, spiritual healers, extraterrestrial investigators and supernatural researchers from across the world, curious to experience the mysterious powers believed to resonate through the forest.

Contemporary Dangers

It may be a top global pilgrimage sites for paranormal enthusiasts, this woodland is at risk. The outlying areas of Cluj-Napoca – a modern tech hub of a population exceeding 400,000, described as the tech capital of Eastern Europe – are advancing, and developers are pushing for authorization to remove the forest to erect housing complexes.

Aside from a small area home to area-specific Mediterranean oak trees, this woodland is lacking legal protection, but Marius is confident that the initiative he helped establish – a local conservation effort – will contribute to improving the situation, persuading the authorities to acknowledge the forest's importance as a visitor destination.

Chilling Events

As twigs and fall foliage split and rustle beneath their boots, the guide recounts numerous folk tales and reported supernatural events here.

• A popular tale tells of a young child disappearing during a group gathering, only to reappear half a decade later with no memory of her experience, having not aged a moment, her attire without the tiniest bit of dust.
• More common reports describe smartphones and camera equipment unexpectedly failing on venturing inside.
• Reactions range from absolute fear to feelings of joy.
• Various visitors state seeing unusual marks on their bodies, detecting ghostly voices through the woodland, or sense hands grabbing them, even when sure they are alone.

Study Attempts

Despite several of the tales may be unverifiable, there is much clearly observable that is definitely bizarre. Everywhere you look are plants whose stems are bent and twisted into bizarre configurations.

Various suggestions have been suggested to explain the misshapen plants: powerful storms could have bent the saplings, or typically increased electromagnetic fields in the soil explain their crooked growth.

But scientific investigations have discovered inconclusive results.

The Notorious Meadow

Marius's tours permit participants to participate in a small-scale research of their own. Upon reaching the opening in the trees where Barnea captured his well-known UFO pictures, he hands the traveler an electromagnetic field detector which detects electromagnetic fields.

"We're venturing into the most energetic part of the forest," he says. "See what you can find."

The vegetation abruptly end as they step into a complete ring. The only greenery is the low vegetation beneath our feet; it's clear that it's naturally occurring, and looks that this strange clearing is wild, not the work of human hands.

Fact Versus Fiction

The broader region is a place which fuels fantasy, where the division is unclear between reality and legend. In countryside villages faith continues in strigoi ("screamers") – otherworldly, form-changing creatures, who return from burial sites to haunt nearby villages.

Bram Stoker's renowned character Dracula is permanently linked with Transylvania, and Bran Castle – a medieval building located on a stone formation in the Carpathian Mountains – is actively advertised as "Dracula's Castle".

But even legend-filled Transylvania – literally, "the place beyond the forest" – appears tangible and comprehensible compared to the haunted grove, which give the impression of being, for factors related to radiation, atmospheric or entirely legendary, a hub for human imaginative power.

"Within this forest," the guide comments, "the division between fact and fiction is remarkably blurred."