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"People refer to this place a mysterious vortex of Transylvania," states a local guide, his exhalation forming clouds of condensation in the crisp night air. "Countless visitors have vanished here, it's thought it's an entrance to a different realm." This expert is escorting a guest on a night walk through what is often described as the planet's most ghostly grove: Hoia-Baciu, an area covering one square mile of ancient local woods on the outskirts of the metropolis of Cluj-Napoca.

Centuries of Mystery

Reports of strange happenings here extend back a long time – the forest is named after a local shepherd who is said to have vanished in the far-off times, accompanied by two hundred animals. But Hoia-Baciu achieved international attention in 1968, when a military technician named Emil Barnea photographed what he reported as a flying saucer hovering above a round opening in the middle of the forest.

Many came in here and never came out. But no need to fear," he adds, facing the visitor with a grin. "Our guided walks have a flawless completion rate."

In the years that followed, Hoia-Baciu has attracted yoga practitioners, spiritual healers, UFO researchers and paranormal investigators from around the globe, eager to feel the strange energies believed to resonate through the forest.

Modern Threats

Although it is one of the world's premier pilgrimage sites for paranormal enthusiasts, the grove is at risk. The western suburbs of Cluj-Napoca – a modern tech hub of more than 400,000 people, called the innovation center of Eastern Europe – are expanding, and developers are pushing for permission to clear the trees to erect housing complexes.

Barring a limited section home to area-specific Mediterranean oak trees, this woodland is lacking legal protection, but the guide believes that the company he was instrumental in creating – a dedicated preservation group – will assist in altering this, motivating the authorities to acknowledge the forest's importance as a tourist attraction.

Eerie Encounters

When small sticks and fall foliage snap and crunch beneath their shoes, the guide recounts numerous traditional stories and alleged paranormal happenings here.

• One famous story describes a five-year-old girl going missing during a family picnic, later to return half a decade later with no memory of the events, showing no signs of aging a moment, her attire shy of the slightest speck of dust.
• Frequent accounts explain cellphones and imaging devices unexpectedly failing on venturing inside.
• Reactions range from full-blown dread to feelings of joy.
• Various visitors state observing bizarre skin irritations on their skin, perceiving ghostly voices through the woodland, or experience palms pushing them, although certain nobody is nearby.

Scientific Investigations

While many of the stories may be unverifiable, there is much visibly present that is definitely bizarre. Throughout the area are vegetation whose bases are bent and twisted into bizarre configurations.

Various suggestions have been given to clarify the abnormal growth: that hurricane winds could have altered the growth, or typically increased radiation levels in the soil account for their unusual development.

But formal examinations have found inconclusive results.

The Notorious Meadow

The expert's tours enable guests to engage in a little scientific inquiry of their own. Upon reaching the meadow in the forest where Barnea photographed his well-known UFO images, he gives the visitor an EMF meter which detects EMF readings.

"We're entering the most active section of the forest," he says. "See what you can find."

The trees immediately cease as we emerge into a perfect circle. The only greenery is the short grass beneath their shoes; it's clear that it's not maintained, and seems that this bizarre meadow is wild, not the work of human hands.

Between Reality and Imagination

The broader region is a location which fuels fantasy, where the division is unclear between reality and legend. In countryside villages belief persists in strigoi ("screamers") – otherworldly, appearance-altering creatures, who emerge from tombs to terrorise regional populations.

The famous author's renowned vampire Count Dracula is always connected with Transylvania, and the historic stronghold – a medieval building situated on a stone formation in the mountain range – is heavily promoted as "the count's residence".

But despite myth-shrouded Transylvania – actually, "the land past the woods" – feels tangible and comprehensible versus these eerie woods, which appear to be, for reasons nuclear, climatic or simply folkloric, a hub for fantasy projection.

"In Hoia-Baciu," the guide states, "the boundary between reality and imagination is very thin."