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"People refer to this location a mysterious vortex of Transylvania," remarks a tour guide, his exhalation forming puffs of mist in the cold dusk atmosphere. "Countless people have vanished here, it's thought it's a portal to another dimension." This expert is leading a traveler on a evening stroll through what is often described as the planet's most ghostly forest: Hoia-Baciu, a section spanning 640 acres of ancient indigenous forest on the fringes of the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

Centuries of Mystery

Reports of unusual events here extend back a long time – this woodland is called after a local shepherd who is said to have vanished in the long ago, accompanied by two hundred animals. But Hoia-Baciu came to worldwide fame in 1968, when an army specialist known as Emil Barnea captured on film what he described as a flying saucer suspended above a circular clearing in the heart of the forest.

Countless ventured inside and never came out. But rest assured," he continues, facing his guest with a smile. "Our guided walks have a 100% return rate."

In the time after, Hoia-Baciu has brought in meditation experts, spiritual healers, extraterrestrial investigators and paranormal investigators from across the world, interested in encountering the strange energies believed to resonate through the forest.

Contemporary Dangers

It may be among the planet's leading pilgrimage sites for lovers of the paranormal, the grove is facing danger. The western districts of Cluj-Napoca – a modern tech hub of more than 400,000 people, called the innovation center of eastern Europe – are expanding, and construction companies are pushing for authorization to clear the trees to erect housing complexes.

Barring a limited section housing regionally uncommon specific tree species, the forest is not officially protected, but Marius believes that the organization he co-founded – a local conservation effort – will contribute to improving the situation, persuading the authorities to acknowledge the forest's importance as a tourist attraction.

Eerie Encounters

As twigs and fall foliage break and crackle beneath their footwear, the guide describes various folk tales and claimed ghostly incidents here.

• A well-known account tells of a young child disappearing during a family outing, later to return five years later with no memory of the events, without aging a day, her attire shy of the tiniest bit of dust.
• More common reports detail mobile phones and photography gear inexplicably shutting down on entering the woods.
• Reactions range from absolute fear to feelings of joy.
• Some people claim seeing bizarre skin irritations on their skin, detecting unseen murmurs through the forest, or feel palms pushing them, despite being certain nobody is nearby.

Research Efforts

Despite several of the tales may be unverifiable, there are many things visibly present that is certainly unusual. All around are trees whose stems are curved and contorted into fantastical shapes.

Various suggestions have been given to clarify the abnormal growth: strong gales could have bent the saplings, or naturally high radiation levels in the earth explain their unusual development.

But scientific investigations have discovered insufficient proof.

The Famous Clearing

Marius's tours enable visitors to take part in a little scientific inquiry of their own. Upon reaching the clearing in the woods where Barnea captured his famous UFO images, he gives his guest an ghost-hunting device which detects energy patterns.

"We're entering the most powerful part of the forest," he states. "Try to detect something."

The plants abruptly end as we emerge into a perfect circle. The only greenery is the low vegetation beneath the ground; it's apparent that it's naturally occurring, and appears that this bizarre meadow is organic, not the result of people.

The Blurred Line

This part of Romania is a location which fuels fantasy, where the line is blurred between truth and myth. In rural Romanian communities belief persists in strigoi ("screamers") – otherworldly, shapeshifting bloodsuckers, who emerge from tombs to terrorise regional populations.

The novelist'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 Carpathian Mountains – is keenly marketed as "Dracula's Castle".

But even myth-shrouded Transylvania – literally, "the place beyond the forest" – feels tangible and comprehensible compared to the haunted grove, which seem to be, for reasons related to radiation, climatic or simply folkloric, a nexus for human imaginative power.

"In Hoia-Baciu," Marius says, "the boundary between truth and fantasy is extremely fine."