Delving into the Planet's Most Ghostly Grove: Gnarled Trees, Unidentified Flying Objects and Eerie Tales in Romania's Legendary Region.

"They call this spot an enigmatic zone of Transylvania," explains a tour guide, his breath forming clouds of condensation in the cold evening air. "Countless visitors have disappeared here, it's thought it's an entrance to another dimension." This expert is escorting a traveler on a evening stroll through what is often described as the planet's most ghostly grove: Hoia-Baciu, an area covering one square mile of ancient indigenous forest on the outskirts of the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

Centuries of Mystery

Accounts of unusual events here go back hundreds of years – the forest is titled for a area shepherd who is believed to have disappeared in the distant past, accompanied by two hundred animals. But Hoia-Baciu achieved international attention in 1968, when a defense worker known as Emil Barnea photographed what he claimed was a flying saucer hovering above a oval meadow in the centre of the forest.

Many came in here and failed to return. But no need to fear," he adds, addressing the visitor with a grin. "Our excursions have a perfect safety record."

In the time after, Hoia-Baciu has attracted meditation experts, traditional medicine people, ufologists and supernatural researchers from around the globe, curious to experience the unusual forces said to echo through the forest.

Contemporary Dangers

Despite being a top global hotspots for lovers of the paranormal, this woodland is at risk. The western suburbs of Cluj-Napoca – a modern tech hub of a population exceeding 400,000, described as the tech capital of eastern Europe – are expanding, and construction companies are campaigning for authorization to remove the forest to build apartment blocks.

Except for a small area home to regionally uncommon oak varieties, this woodland is lacking legal protection, but Marius believes that the organization he co-founded – the Hoia-Baciu Project – will help to change that, motivating the local administrators to appreciate the forest's significance as a tourist attraction.

Spooky Experiences

As twigs and fall foliage snap and crunch beneath their boots, the guide describes numerous traditional stories and reported paranormal happenings here.

• One famous story describes a five-year-old girl vanishing during a family picnic, later to reappear after five years with complete amnesia of what had happened, having not aged a single day, her clothes lacking the slightest speck of dust.
• Frequent accounts explain mobile phones and imaging devices mysteriously turning off on venturing inside.
• Emotional responses vary from full-blown dread to states of ecstasy.
• Some people state noticing bizarre skin irritations on their bodies, perceiving disembodied whispers through the trees, or feel palms pushing them, despite being certain nobody is nearby.

Study Attempts

While many of the stories may be impossible to confirm, there is much clearly observable that is definitely bizarre. All around are plants whose trunks are warped and gnarled into fantastical shapes.

Different theories have been given to account for the misshapen plants: strong gales could have bent the saplings, or inherently elevated radiation levels in the ground cause their unusual development.

But scientific investigations have discovered inconclusive results.

The Famous Clearing

The expert's walks allow participants to engage in a small-scale research of their own. When nearing the meadow in the forest where Barnea captured his renowned UFO photographs, he passes his guest an electromagnetic field detector which measures electromagnetic fields.

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

The vegetation abruptly end as we emerge into a complete ring. The sole vegetation is the low vegetation beneath the ground; it's clear that it's naturally occurring, and seems that this strange clearing is organic, not the creation of landscaping.

Fact Versus Fiction

This part of Romania is a place which inspires creativity, where the division is unclear between truth and myth. In countryside villages faith continues in strigoi ("screamers") – otherworldly, shapeshifting creatures, who emerge from tombs to haunt regional populations.

The famous author's famous character Dracula is forever associated with Transylvania, and the historic stronghold – an ancient structure situated on a cliff edge in the Carpathian Mountains – is heavily promoted as "the vampire's home".

But including myth-shrouded Transylvania – truly, "the territory after the grove" – appears real and understandable compared to this spooky forest, which appear to be, for causes radioactive, climatic or purely mythical, a nexus for creative energy.

"Inside these woods," the guide says, "the line between reality and imagination is extremely fine."