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"People refer to this spot a mysterious vortex of Transylvania," remarks a local guide, the air from his lungs forming puffs of condensation in the crisp night air. "Countless visitors have gone missing here, some say it's a portal to a different realm." Marius is leading a guest on a nocturnal tour through what is often described as the planet's most ghostly grove: Hoia-Baciu, a square mile of old-growth native woodland on the edges of the metropolis of Cluj-Napoca.

Hundreds of Years of Enigma

Stories of strange happenings here date back a long time – this woodland is titled for a regional herder who is reportedly went missing in the far-off times, along with 200 of his sheep. But Hoia-Baciu achieved worldwide fame in 1968, when a defense worker known as Emil Barnea took a picture of what he described as a flying saucer suspended above a round opening in the middle of the forest.

Numerous entered this place and vanished without trace. But don't worry," he states, facing his guest with a grin. "Our tours have a flawless completion rate."

In the time after, Hoia-Baciu has attracted yoga practitioners, shamans, extraterrestrial investigators and supernatural researchers from worldwide, eager to feel the strange energies believed to resonate through the forest.

Modern Threats

It may be among the planet's leading hotspots for supernatural fans, the grove is under threat. The western districts of Cluj-Napoca – an innovative digital cluster of more than 400,000 people, described as the innovation center of eastern Europe – are encroaching, and real estate firms are pushing for authorization to cut down the woods to erect housing complexes.

Except for a small area housing regionally uncommon Mediterranean oak trees, the grove is lacking legal protection, but the guide hopes that the organization he helped establish – the Hoia-Baciu Project – will help to change that, motivating the government officials to appreciate the forest's significance as a visitor destination.

Eerie Encounters

While branches and fall foliage break and crackle beneath their boots, Marius describes some of the local legends and claimed ghostly incidents here.

• A popular tale describes a little girl vanishing during a family picnic, only to reappear after five years with complete amnesia of the events, without aging a moment, her attire lacking the slightest speck of dirt.
• More common reports describe smartphones and imaging devices unexpectedly failing on entering the woods.
• Reactions include absolute fear to moments of euphoria.
• Some people claim seeing bizarre skin irritations on their arms, perceiving disembodied whispers through the forest, or sense fingers clutching them, although sure they are alone.

Research Efforts

Although numerous of the stories may be impossible to confirm, there is much clearly observable that is certainly unusual. Everywhere you look are plants whose stems are curved and contorted into bizarre configurations.

Multiple explanations have been given to clarify the deformed trees: powerful storms could have altered the growth, or inherently elevated radiation levels in the soil explain their crooked growth.

But research studies have discovered no satisfactory evidence.

The Notorious Meadow

The expert's walks permit visitors to participate in a little scientific inquiry of their own. When nearing the clearing in the forest where Barnea captured his renowned UFO pictures, he passes his guest an electromagnetic field detector which registers EMF readings.

"We're stepping into the most energetic section of the forest," he comments. "Try to detect something."

The vegetation immediately cease as they step into a flawless round. The single plant life is the low vegetation beneath our feet; it's clear that it hasn't been mown, and seems that this unusual opening is organic, not the creation of people.

The Blurred Line

This part of Romania is a place which stirs the imagination, where the border is blurred between truth and myth. In rural Romanian communities superstition remains in strigoi ("screamers") – otherworldly, shapeshifting vampires, who emerge from tombs to frighten local communities.

Bram Stoker's famous fictional vampire is permanently linked with Transylvania, and the legendary fortress – a medieval building located on a cliff edge in the Carpathian Mountains – is actively advertised as "the vampire's home".

But even legend-filled Transylvania – truly, "the territory after the grove" – feels solid and predictable compared to these eerie woods, which seem to be, for reasons related to radiation, atmospheric or purely mythical, a nexus for fantasy projection.

"Inside these woods," Marius says, "the line between reality and imagination is remarkably blurred."