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"They call this location the Bermuda Triangle of Transylvania," remarks a local guide, the air from his lungs forming wisps of condensation in the cold night air. "Numerous individuals have vanished here, some say it's an entrance to a parallel world." The guide is leading a traveler on a nocturnal tour through commonly known as the planet's most ghostly woodland: Hoia-Baciu, a section spanning 640 acres of primeval native woodland on the edges of the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

A Long History of the Unexplained

Accounts of bizarre occurrences here extend back a long time – this woodland is titled for a regional herder who is said to have vanished in the long ago, accompanied by two hundred animals. But Hoia-Baciu achieved worldwide fame in 1968, when a military technician called Emil Barnea captured on film what he reported as a UFO suspended above a circular clearing in the heart of the forest.

Numerous entered this place and vanished without trace. But rest assured," he states, facing his guest with a grin. "Our guided walks have a flawless completion rate."

In the years that followed, Hoia-Baciu has attracted yoga practitioners, spiritual healers, extraterrestrial investigators and paranormal investigators from around the globe, interested in encountering the unusual forces reported to reverberate through the forest.

Modern Threats

Despite being a top global destinations for supernatural fans, the forest is at risk. The western districts of Cluj-Napoca – a contemporary technology center of a population exceeding 400,000, described as the Silicon Valley of eastern Europe – are encroaching, and construction companies are pushing for authorization to cut down the woods to erect housing complexes.

Aside from a few hectares home to area-specific specific tree species, the forest is not officially protected, but Marius believes that the organization he was instrumental in creating – a local conservation effort – will help to change that, motivating the government officials to recognise the forest's importance as a visitor destination.

Chilling Events

While branches and autumn leaves snap and crunch beneath their shoes, Marius recounts some of the local legends and alleged paranormal happenings here.

• A well-known account recounts a five-year-old girl disappearing during a group gathering, later to return half a decade later with no recollection of her experience, having not aged a day, her garments shy of the tiniest bit of soil.
• More common reports detail mobile phones and imaging devices mysteriously turning off on stepping into the forest.
• Reactions vary from full-blown dread to states of ecstasy.
• Certain individuals report seeing bizarre skin irritations on their arms, detecting ghostly voices through the forest, or experience hands grabbing them, despite being certain nobody is nearby.

Study Attempts

Despite several of the stories may be impossible to confirm, numerous elements before my eyes that is undeniably strange. Throughout the area are plants whose bases are curved and contorted into unusual forms.

Different theories have been given to explain the abnormal growth: powerful storms could have altered the growth, or naturally high radioactivity in the ground cause their strange formation.

But scientific investigations have found inconclusive results.

The Famous Clearing

Marius's excursions enable participants to take part in a little scientific inquiry of their own. As we approach the opening in the forest where Barnea took his well-known UFO images, he gives the traveler an ghost-hunting device which detects EMF readings.

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

The vegetation abruptly end as they step into a flawless round. The sole vegetation is the low vegetation beneath the ground; it's obvious that it's not maintained, and seems that this unusual opening is wild, not the work of human hands.

The Blurred Line

The broader region is a place which stirs the imagination, where the border is blurred between fact and folklore. In traditional settlements belief persists in strigoi ("screamers") – otherworldly, form-changing creatures, who rise from their graves to frighten regional populations.

The novelist's famous character Dracula is always connected with Transylvania, and Bran Castle – a Saxon monolith located on a rocky outcrop in the mountain range – is actively advertised as "the vampire's home".

But despite folklore-rich Transylvania – truly, "the land past the woods" – appears solid and predictable versus the haunted grove, which appear to be, for reasons radioactive, atmospheric or simply folkloric, a center for creative energy.

"Inside these woods," Marius states, "the boundary between reality and imagination is remarkably blurred."