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"Locals dub this spot a mysterious vortex of Transylvania," states an experienced guide, the air from his lungs creating clouds of condensation in the cold evening air. "Numerous visitors have disappeared here, many believe there's a gateway to a parallel world." The guide is leading a visitor on a night walk through frequently labeled as the globe's spookiest grove: Hoia-Baciu, an area covering one square mile of old-growth indigenous forest on the edges of the Transylvanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

Hundreds of Years of Enigma

Accounts of unusual events here go back a long time – the forest is titled for a area shepherd who is said to have vanished in the long ago, along with 200 of his sheep. But Hoia-Baciu gained worldwide fame in 1968, when a defense worker called Emil Barnea took a picture of what he claimed was a flying saucer hovering above a round opening in the centre of the forest.

Numerous entered this place and failed to return. But rest assured," he continues, facing his guest with a smile. "Our excursions have a flawless completion rate."

In the years that followed, Hoia-Baciu has brought in meditation experts, shamans, ufologists and ghost hunters from across the world, eager to feel the mysterious powers reported to reverberate through the forest.

Modern Threats

Despite being among the planet's leading destinations for paranormal enthusiasts, the forest is facing danger. The western districts of Cluj-Napoca – a contemporary technology center of more than 400,000 people, known as the innovation center of the region – are advancing, and construction companies are campaigning for approval to clear the trees to erect housing complexes.

Except for a few hectares home to regionally uncommon oak varieties, the forest is without conservation status, but Marius hopes that the company he helped establish – a dedicated preservation group – will help to change that, persuading the authorities to recognise the forest's significance as a visitor destination.

Spooky Experiences

As twigs and autumn leaves snap and crunch beneath their shoes, Marius tells numerous local legends and claimed paranormal happenings here.

• A well-known account describes a five-year-old girl vanishing during a family picnic, only to return five years later with complete amnesia of what had happened, showing no signs of aging a moment, her garments lacking the smallest trace of soil.
• Frequent accounts describe smartphones and camera equipment mysteriously turning off on stepping into the forest.
• Feelings range from full-blown dread to states of ecstasy.
• Various visitors report seeing strange rashes on their arms, hearing unseen murmurs through the woodland, or feel hands grabbing them, even when certain nobody is nearby.

Scientific Investigations

Despite several of the accounts may be impossible to confirm, there are many things clearly observable that is undeniably strange. Everywhere you look are vegetation whose stems are bent and twisted into bizarre configurations.

Different theories have been suggested to account for the deformed trees: 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 Notorious Meadow

The guide's tours allow guests to participate in a modest investigation of their own. When nearing the clearing in the forest where Barnea photographed his renowned UFO images, he hands his guest an electromagnetic field detector which detects energy patterns.

"We're entering the most active section of the forest," he states. "Discover what's here."

The vegetation suddenly stop dead as the group enters into a flawless round. The sole vegetation is the short grass beneath the ground; it's clear that it's not maintained, and appears that this bizarre meadow is wild, not the result of human hands.

Fact Versus Fiction

The broader region is a place which stirs the imagination, where the border is unclear between reality and legend. In traditional settlements faith continues in strigoi ("screamers") – otherworldly, shapeshifting creatures, who return from burial sites to terrorise local communities.

Bram Stoker's well-known character Dracula is forever associated with Transylvania, and Bran Castle – a Saxon monolith located on a rocky outcrop in the mountain range – is heavily promoted as "Dracula's Castle".

But including legend-filled Transylvania – truly, "the place beyond the forest" – feels tangible and comprehensible compared to this spooky forest, which seem to be, for causes related to radiation, environmental or simply folkloric, a center for fantasy projection.

"In Hoia-Baciu," the guide says, "the line between reality and imagination is extremely fine."