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"Locals dub this place the Bermuda Triangle of Transylvania," remarks an experienced guide, the air from his lungs producing clouds of vapor in the chilly night air. "So many people have vanished here, some say it's an entrance to another dimension." Marius is guiding a traveler on a evening stroll through commonly known as the globe's spookiest forest: Hoia-Baciu, a section spanning 640 acres of primeval native woodland on the fringes of the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

Centuries of Mystery

Reports of unusual events here go back a long time – the forest is titled for a regional herder who is reportedly went missing in the long ago, accompanied by his entire flock. But Hoia-Baciu came to global recognition in 1968, when an army specialist called Emil Barnea took a picture of what he claimed was a flying saucer floating above a circular clearing in the middle of the forest.

Countless ventured inside and vanished without trace. But rest assured," he continues, facing his guest with a smirk. "Our tours have a perfect safety record."

In the decades since, Hoia-Baciu has drawn meditation experts, shamans, UFO researchers and paranormal investigators from across the world, interested in encountering the unusual forces reported to reverberate through the forest.

Contemporary Dangers

It may be one of the world's premier hotspots for lovers of the paranormal, the forest is at risk. The western districts of Cluj-Napoca – a contemporary technology center of over 400,000 residents, called the tech capital of eastern Europe – are advancing, and construction companies are advocating for authorization to clear the trees to build apartment blocks.

Aside from a few hectares home to regionally uncommon Mediterranean oak trees, the grove is lacking legal protection, but the guide hopes that the organization he was instrumental in creating – a local conservation effort – will assist in altering this, motivating the government officials to acknowledge the forest's importance as a visitor destination.

Chilling Events

As twigs and autumn leaves split and rustle beneath their shoes, the guide tells numerous local legends and claimed paranormal happenings here.

• A well-known account recounts a little girl going missing during a family outing, only to reappear after five years with no recollection of her experience, showing no signs of aging a day, her garments shy of the tiniest bit of dust.
• Frequent accounts detail mobile phones and camera equipment unexpectedly failing on stepping into the forest.
• Emotional responses include absolute fear to states of ecstasy.
• Certain individuals report noticing bizarre skin irritations on their arms, hearing ghostly voices through the trees, or feel hands grabbing them, even when convinced they're by themselves.

Research Efforts

While many of the tales may be hard to prove, there are many things clearly observable that is certainly unusual. Everywhere you look are plants whose bases are warped and gnarled into bizarre configurations.

Multiple explanations have been suggested to account for the abnormal growth: powerful storms could have bent the saplings, or inherently elevated radiation levels in the ground account for their crooked growth.

But scientific investigations have turned up insufficient proof.

The Legendary Opening

The expert's excursions allow participants to participate in a modest investigation of their own. As we approach the clearing in the trees where Barnea photographed his well-known UFO photographs, he passes the traveler an EMF meter which registers electromagnetic fields.

"We're stepping into the most powerful section of the forest," he states. "See what you can find."

The trees immediately cease as the group enters into a perfect circle. The single plant life is the trimmed turf beneath the ground; it's clear that it's naturally occurring, and seems that this bizarre meadow is organic, not the result of landscaping.

Fact Versus Fiction

Transylvania generally is a area which fuels fantasy, where the border is unclear between fact and folklore. In traditional settlements superstition remains in strigoi ("screamers") – supernatural, appearance-altering creatures, who return from burial sites to haunt nearby villages.

The novelist's well-known character Dracula is always connected with Transylvania, and the historic stronghold – an ancient structure situated on a stone formation in the Carpathian Mountains – is actively advertised as "the vampire's home".

But despite legend-filled Transylvania – literally, "the land past the woods" – appears real and understandable compared to the haunted grove, which seem to be, for causes radioactive, climatic or simply folkloric, a center for human imaginative power.

"Within this forest," the guide says, "the division between truth and fantasy is remarkably blurred."