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"People refer to this spot an enigmatic zone of Transylvania," states a local guide, the air from his lungs creating puffs of vapor in the chilly night air. "Numerous individuals have gone missing here, some say it's an entrance to a different realm." The guide is leading a visitor on a night walk through what is often described as the world's most haunted grove: Hoia-Baciu, a section spanning 640 acres of primeval native woodland on the fringes of the metropolis of Cluj-Napoca.

A Long History of the Unexplained

Reports of unusual events here date back centuries – this woodland is called after a area shepherd who is believed to have disappeared in the long ago, along with his entire flock. But Hoia-Baciu achieved international attention in 1968, when an army specialist named Emil Barnea captured on film what he reported as a flying saucer suspended above a round opening in the heart of the forest.

Countless ventured inside and vanished without trace. But no need to fear," he continues, facing the visitor with a smirk. "Our tours have a 100% return rate."

In the time after, Hoia-Baciu has drawn yogis, traditional medicine people, UFO researchers and supernatural researchers from across the world, eager to feel the unusual forces believed to resonate through the forest.

Modern Threats

Although it is one of the world's premier hotspots for paranormal enthusiasts, this woodland is facing danger. The western suburbs of Cluj-Napoca – an innovative digital cluster of more than 400,000 people, called the innovation center of Eastern Europe – are expanding, and developers are advocating for approval to clear the trees to build apartment blocks.

Aside from a few hectares home to locally rare Mediterranean oak trees, the grove is lacking legal protection, but the guide believes that the organization he co-founded – the Hoia-Baciu Project – will assist in altering this, persuading the government officials to acknowledge the forest's value as a travel hotspot.

Spooky Experiences

As twigs and autumn leaves break and crackle beneath their footwear, Marius describes various folk tales and reported ghostly incidents here.

• One famous story recounts a little girl vanishing during a group gathering, later to reappear half a decade later with no memory of her experience, showing no signs of aging a single day, her attire without the slightest speck of dirt.
• Regular stories describe smartphones and imaging devices mysteriously turning off on entering the woods.
• Reactions vary from complete terror to moments of euphoria.
• Certain individuals claim observing unusual marks on their bodies, hearing unseen murmurs through the forest, or experience palms pushing them, even when convinced they're by themselves.

Study Attempts

Although numerous of the tales may be impossible to confirm, there is much visibly present that is certainly unusual. Throughout the area are trees whose trunks are warped and gnarled into bizarre configurations.

Multiple explanations have been proposed to account for the misshapen plants: strong gales could have shaped the young trees, or inherently elevated radioactivity in the earth cause their strange formation.

But formal examinations have turned up inconclusive results.

The Legendary Opening

Marius's walks permit guests to participate in a modest investigation of their own. Upon reaching the clearing in the woods where Barnea photographed his renowned UFO images, he gives the traveler an ghost-hunting device which detects electromagnetic fields.

"We're stepping into the most energetic section of the forest," he comments. "Try to detect something."

The plants abruptly end as the group enters into a flawless round. The sole vegetation is the short grass beneath their shoes; it's obvious that it's naturally occurring, and appears that this unusual opening is organic, not the result of people.

Fact Versus Fiction

Transylvania generally is a area which fuels fantasy, where the line is blurred between reality and legend. In traditional settlements faith continues in strigoi ("screamers") – supernatural, form-changing creatures, who rise from their graves to frighten regional populations.

The novelist's well-known character Dracula is always connected with Transylvania, and the legendary fortress – a Saxon monolith perched on a cliff edge in the Carpathian Mountains – is keenly marketed as "the vampire's home".

But even myth-shrouded Transylvania – actually, "the place beyond the forest" – feels real and understandable versus the haunted grove, which appear to be, for causes radioactive, environmental or purely mythical, a hub for human imaginative power.

"Within this forest," Marius says, "the line between fact and fiction is remarkably blurred."