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"They call this location the Bermuda Triangle of Transylvania," states an experienced guide, the air from his lungs forming wisps of vapor in the crisp night air. "Numerous visitors have disappeared here, some say there's a gateway to a parallel world." This expert is escorting a guest on a night walk through commonly known as the planet's most ghostly woodland: Hoia-Baciu, a square mile of ancient native woodland on the edges of the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

Centuries of Mystery

Accounts of strange happenings here go back centuries – the grove is called after a regional herder who is believed to have disappeared in the long ago, accompanied by 200 of his sheep. But Hoia-Baciu achieved international attention in 1968, when a military technician named Emil Barnea captured on film what he reported as a UFO hovering above a round opening in the middle of the forest.

Countless ventured inside and never came out. But rest assured," he continues, addressing the traveler with a grin. "Our excursions have a perfect safety record."

In the time after, Hoia-Baciu has brought in yoga practitioners, traditional medicine people, extraterrestrial investigators and paranormal investigators from around the globe, eager to feel the unusual forces believed to resonate through the forest.

Contemporary Dangers

Although it is among the planet's leading pilgrimage sites for supernatural fans, this woodland is facing danger. The western suburbs of Cluj-Napoca – a modern tech hub of over 400,000 residents, called the Silicon Valley of Eastern Europe – are encroaching, and real estate firms are pushing for approval to clear the trees to construct residential buildings.

Barring a small area containing locally rare specific tree species, the grove is without conservation status, but the guide hopes that the company he helped establish – a local conservation effort – will help to change that, persuading the local administrators to recognise the forest's importance as a tourist attraction.

Eerie Encounters

When small sticks and seasonal debris split and rustle beneath their footwear, the guide tells various traditional stories and alleged supernatural events here.

• A popular tale tells of a five-year-old girl vanishing during a family picnic, then to rematerialise half a decade later with no memory of what had happened, having not aged a single day, her garments shy of the tiniest bit of dirt.
• Frequent accounts detail smartphones and imaging devices unexpectedly failing on venturing inside.
• Feelings include complete terror to feelings of joy.
• Some people report seeing bizarre skin irritations on their bodies, detecting unseen murmurs through the forest, or experience palms pushing them, although sure they are alone.

Research Efforts

Although numerous of the accounts may be impossible to confirm, there are many things clearly observable that is undeniably strange. Everywhere you look are plants whose trunks are curved and contorted into bizarre configurations.

Multiple explanations have been suggested to account for the abnormal growth: that hurricane winds could have altered the growth, or inherently elevated radioactivity in the earth explain their strange formation.

But formal examinations have found no satisfactory evidence.

The Notorious Meadow

The guide's walks allow visitors to take part in a modest investigation of their own. Upon reaching the meadow in the trees where Barnea took his renowned UFO pictures, he hands his guest an EMF meter which measures EMF readings.

"We're venturing into the most active part of the forest," he states. "Try to detect something."

The vegetation immediately cease as they step into a complete ring. The sole vegetation is the trimmed turf beneath our feet; it's clear that it's naturally occurring, and appears that this unusual opening is organic, not the work of human hands.

Fact Versus Fiction

Transylvania generally is a place which inspires creativity, where the line is unclear between fact and folklore. In countryside villages superstition remains in strigoi ("screamers") – undead, shapeshifting vampires, who rise from their graves to terrorise nearby villages.

The novelist's well-known vampire Count Dracula is permanently linked with Transylvania, and the legendary fortress – a medieval building located on a cliff edge in the mountain range – is actively advertised as "the count's residence".

But including folklore-rich Transylvania – literally, "the territory after the grove" – appears solid and predictable compared to these eerie woods, which appear to be, for reasons radioactive, atmospheric or entirely legendary, a hub for fantasy projection.

"Within this forest," the guide says, "the division between reality and imagination is remarkably blurred."