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"They call this location an enigmatic zone of Transylvania," states a local guide, his breath producing wisps of mist in the crisp dusk atmosphere. "So many visitors have disappeared here, it's thought it's a portal to another dimension." Marius is escorting a guest on a nocturnal tour through commonly known as the planet's most ghostly forest: Hoia-Baciu, an area covering one square mile of old-growth native woodland on the outskirts of the Transylvanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

Centuries of Mystery

Reports of unusual events here extend back a long time – the forest is titled for a local shepherd who is said to have vanished in the distant past, together with 200 of his sheep. But Hoia-Baciu came to international attention in 1968, when a military technician named Emil Barnea took a picture of what he claimed was a unidentified flying object hovering above a oval meadow in the heart of the forest.

Countless ventured inside and vanished without trace. But rest assured," he states, addressing the visitor with a smile. "Our guided walks have a perfect safety record."

In the years that followed, Hoia-Baciu has attracted yoga practitioners, spiritual healers, UFO researchers and ghost hunters from across the world, interested in encountering the mysterious powers believed to resonate through the forest.

Contemporary Dangers

It may be a top global hotspots for supernatural fans, the grove is facing danger. The western districts of Cluj-Napoca – a modern tech hub of more than 400,000 people, called the Silicon Valley of Eastern Europe – are expanding, and real estate firms are campaigning for approval to cut down the woods to erect housing complexes.

Aside from a limited section containing area-specific oak varieties, the forest is lacking legal protection, but Marius is confident that the organization he was instrumental in creating – a dedicated preservation group – will assist in altering this, persuading the government officials to recognise the forest's importance as a visitor destination.

Eerie Encounters

As twigs and seasonal debris break and crackle beneath their boots, the guide tells various local legends and claimed ghostly incidents here.

• A well-known account recounts a young child disappearing during a family picnic, only to return five years later with no memory of the events, without aging a day, her garments lacking the tiniest bit of dirt.
• More common reports explain smartphones and camera equipment unexpectedly failing on stepping into the forest.
• Emotional responses vary from complete terror to states of ecstasy.
• Various visitors claim seeing strange rashes on their bodies, perceiving unseen murmurs through the forest, or experience palms pushing them, although certain nobody is nearby.

Research Efforts

While many of the tales may be hard to prove, numerous elements visibly present that is certainly unusual. Everywhere you look are plants whose bases are curved and contorted into unusual forms.

Different theories have been suggested to explain the deformed trees: powerful storms could have altered the growth, or naturally high electromagnetic fields in the earth cause their crooked growth.

But formal examinations have turned up no satisfactory evidence.

The Famous Clearing

The guide's excursions allow participants to participate in a modest investigation of their own. As we approach the opening in the forest where Barnea captured his renowned UFO photographs, he gives his guest an EMF meter which detects EMF readings.

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

The trees abruptly end as they step into a complete ring. The single plant life is the short grass beneath their shoes; it's obvious that it hasn't been mown, and looks that this unusual opening is natural, not the result of landscaping.

Between Reality and Imagination

Transylvania generally is a place which stirs the imagination, where the division is unclear between truth and myth. In rural Romanian communities faith continues in strigoi ("screamers") – undead, form-changing vampires, who emerge from tombs to terrorise local communities.

The famous author's famous vampire Count Dracula is permanently linked with Transylvania, and Bran Castle – a medieval building located on a stone formation in the Carpathian Mountains – is keenly marketed as "Dracula's Castle".

But including legend-filled Transylvania – truly, "the place beyond the forest" – appears real and understandable compared to this spooky forest, which appear to be, for causes radioactive, climatic or entirely legendary, a nexus for creative energy.

"Inside these woods," Marius says, "the division between fact and fiction is very thin."