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"They call this spot an enigmatic zone of Transylvania," remarks an experienced guide, his exhalation creating clouds of condensation in the crisp night air. "Numerous individuals have disappeared here, many believe it's a portal to a different realm." The guide is guiding a visitor on a evening stroll through what is often described as the world's most haunted grove: Hoia-Baciu, a section spanning 640 acres of ancient indigenous forest on the fringes of the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

A Long History of the Unexplained

Accounts of bizarre occurrences here extend back hundreds of years – the forest is titled for a local shepherd who is said to have vanished in the long ago, along with two hundred animals. But Hoia-Baciu came to international attention in 1968, when a defense worker named Emil Barnea photographed what he reported as a flying saucer hovering above a oval meadow in the middle of the forest.

Numerous entered this place and failed to return. But no need to fear," he continues, turning to the traveler with a smirk. "Our guided walks have a perfect safety record."

In the decades since, Hoia-Baciu has drawn yoga practitioners, shamans, UFO researchers and supernatural researchers from worldwide, curious to experience the mysterious powers said to echo through the forest.

Current Risks

It may be one of the world's premier pilgrimage sites for supernatural fans, the forest is facing danger. The western suburbs of Cluj-Napoca – a contemporary technology center of over 400,000 residents, described as the innovation center of the region – are expanding, and developers are pushing for permission to remove the forest to erect housing complexes.

Aside from a few hectares containing area-specific oak varieties, this woodland is without conservation status, but Marius believes that the initiative he helped establish – a dedicated preservation group – will assist in altering this, persuading the authorities to recognise the forest's significance as a travel hotspot.

Chilling Events

As twigs and seasonal debris split and rustle beneath their shoes, Marius describes numerous local legends and reported supernatural events here.

• One famous story tells of a little girl vanishing during a family outing, only to reappear after five years with complete amnesia of what had happened, having not aged a single day, her clothes lacking the tiniest bit of dust.
• Frequent accounts explain smartphones and photography gear mysteriously turning off on venturing inside.
• Emotional responses include complete terror to states of ecstasy.
• Certain individuals state noticing strange rashes on their bodies, hearing disembodied whispers through the trees, or experience palms pushing them, despite being certain nobody is nearby.

Scientific Investigations

While many of the tales may be hard to prove, there are many things visibly present that is undeniably strange. All around are plants whose bases are warped and gnarled into bizarre configurations.

Various suggestions have been proposed to account for the deformed trees: that hurricane winds could have altered the growth, or inherently elevated electromagnetic fields in the ground account for their strange formation.

But formal examinations have turned up insufficient proof.

The Famous Clearing

Marius's walks enable visitors to take part in a modest investigation of their own. Upon reaching the meadow in the woods where Barnea took his famous UFO photographs, he hands the visitor an electromagnetic field detector which measures EMF readings.

"We're stepping into the most powerful part of the forest," he says. "Discover what's here."

The trees abruptly end as we emerge into a flawless round. The sole vegetation is the trimmed turf beneath their shoes; it's apparent that it's not maintained, and seems that this strange clearing is wild, not the work of human hands.

Fact Versus Fiction

Transylvania generally is a area which stirs the imagination, where the line is unclear between fact and folklore. In countryside villages superstition remains in strigoi ("screamers") – supernatural, appearance-altering creatures, who return from burial sites to haunt local communities.

Bram Stoker's famous fictional vampire is permanently linked with Transylvania, and the legendary fortress – a Saxon monolith located on a cliff edge in the Transylvanian Alps – is heavily promoted as "Dracula's Castle".

But even legend-filled Transylvania – literally, "the place beyond the forest" – appears solid and predictable compared to this spooky forest, which appear to be, for factors radioactive, atmospheric or entirely legendary, a hub for creative energy.

"Within this forest," Marius states, "the boundary between reality and imagination is extremely fine."