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"People refer to this spot an enigmatic zone of Transylvania," remarks a tour guide, his breath producing clouds of mist in the chilly evening air. "So many individuals have vanished here, some say it's a portal to a different realm." Marius is guiding a traveler on a night walk through frequently labeled as the planet's most ghostly woodland: Hoia-Baciu, a square mile of old-growth indigenous forest on the edges of the metropolis of Cluj-Napoca.

A Long History of the Unexplained

Stories of bizarre occurrences here extend back a long time – the forest is titled for a local shepherd who is believed to have disappeared in the long ago, together with 200 of his sheep. But Hoia-Baciu achieved global recognition in 1968, when a military technician called Emil Barnea took a picture of what he claimed was a flying saucer hovering above a circular clearing in the centre of the forest.

Numerous entered this place and vanished without trace. But rest assured," he adds, facing the traveler with a smile. "Our guided walks have a perfect safety record."

In the years that followed, Hoia-Baciu has brought in yogis, shamans, ufologists and paranormal investigators from worldwide, eager to feel the unusual forces said to echo through the forest.

Current Risks

It may be among the planet's leading destinations for lovers of the paranormal, the forest is facing danger. The western districts of Cluj-Napoca – an innovative digital cluster of over 400,000 residents, described as the innovation center of eastern Europe – are expanding, and real estate firms are advocating for authorization to clear the trees to erect housing complexes.

Aside from a limited section home to area-specific oak varieties, this woodland is without conservation status, but the guide is confident that the organization he co-founded – the Hoia-Baciu Project – will contribute to improving the situation, motivating the local administrators to acknowledge the forest's importance as a travel hotspot.

Chilling Events

When small sticks and fall foliage snap and crunch beneath their boots, Marius describes some of the traditional stories and alleged supernatural events here.

• One famous story describes a five-year-old girl vanishing during a family picnic, then to reappear half a decade later with no recollection of her experience, having not aged a single day, her garments without the tiniest bit of dirt.
• Frequent accounts explain mobile phones and camera equipment inexplicably shutting down on stepping into the forest.
• Emotional responses include full-blown dread to states of ecstasy.
• Various visitors state observing strange rashes on their bodies, detecting unseen murmurs through the forest, or experience palms pushing them, even when sure they are alone.

Research Efforts

While many of the accounts may be hard to prove, there is much before my eyes that is undeniably strange. Throughout the area are vegetation whose stems are curved and contorted into bizarre configurations.

Different theories have been suggested to explain the abnormal growth: strong gales could have bent the saplings, or naturally high radiation levels in the ground explain their crooked growth.

But research studies have turned up inconclusive results.

The Legendary Opening

The guide's excursions permit visitors to participate in a modest investigation of their own. As we approach the meadow in the trees where Barnea photographed his famous UFO photographs, he gives his guest an electromagnetic field detector which measures EMF readings.

"We're venturing into the most energetic area of the forest," he says. "Discover what's here."

The vegetation immediately cease as the group enters into a complete ring. The sole vegetation is the short grass beneath our feet; it's clear that it's not maintained, and appears that this strange clearing is organic, not the creation of people.

Between Reality and Imagination

This part of Romania is a location which inspires creativity, where the line is blurred between reality and legend. In traditional settlements faith continues in strigoi ("screamers") – supernatural, appearance-altering vampires, who emerge from tombs to terrorise regional populations.

The novelist's renowned fictional vampire is permanently linked with Transylvania, and the historic stronghold – a Saxon monolith situated on a stone formation in the mountain range – is heavily promoted as "the count's residence".

But despite legend-filled Transylvania – actually, "the territory after the grove" – seems real and understandable versus this spooky forest, which appear to be, for causes related to radiation, environmental or entirely legendary, a nexus for fantasy projection.

"In Hoia-Baciu," Marius says, "the division between reality and imagination is very thin."