Delving into this Planet's Most Ghostly Woodland: Gnarled Trees, UFOs and Eerie Tales in Romania's Legendary Region.

"Locals dub this location the Bermuda Triangle of Transylvania," states a tour guide, the air from his lungs producing wisps of condensation in the chilly night air. "Countless people have gone missing here, many believe it's a portal to a different realm." The guide is escorting a guest on a evening stroll through frequently labeled as the world's most haunted grove: Hoia-Baciu, a square mile of old-growth native woodland on the fringes of the metropolis of Cluj-Napoca.

A Long History of the Unexplained

Reports of strange happenings here go back a long time – this woodland is titled for a local shepherd who is reportedly went missing in the long ago, along with 200 of his sheep. But Hoia-Baciu gained worldwide fame in 1968, when an army specialist known as Emil Barnea took a picture of what he described as a flying saucer suspended above a oval meadow in the middle of the forest.

Many came in here and vanished without trace. But don't worry," he states, addressing his guest with a grin. "Our excursions have a 100% return rate."

In the years that followed, Hoia-Baciu has brought in meditation experts, shamans, UFO researchers and paranormal investigators from around the globe, interested in encountering the mysterious powers said to echo through the forest.

Modern Threats

Although it is one of the world's premier pilgrimage sites for paranormal enthusiasts, 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 the region – are encroaching, and construction companies are advocating for approval to remove the forest to build apartment blocks.

Aside from a limited section housing locally rare specific tree species, the grove is lacking legal protection, but the guide hopes that the organization he co-founded – a dedicated preservation group – will help to change that, persuading the authorities to recognise the forest's significance as a travel hotspot.

Eerie Encounters

When small sticks and autumn leaves split and rustle beneath their footwear, Marius tells numerous local legends and claimed paranormal happenings here.

• A popular tale recounts a young child disappearing during a family outing, only to return after five years with no recollection of what had happened, without aging a moment, her clothes shy of the smallest trace of dirt.
• Regular stories detail smartphones and camera equipment inexplicably shutting down on entering the woods.
• Feelings vary from full-blown dread to moments of euphoria.
• Various visitors report observing bizarre skin irritations on their bodies, hearing ghostly voices through the trees, or feel palms pushing them, despite being convinced they're by themselves.

Study Attempts

While many of the tales may be hard to prove, there are many things before my eyes that is certainly unusual. Throughout the area are plants whose bases are bent and twisted into fantastical shapes.

Multiple explanations have been given to explain the abnormal growth: powerful storms could have bent the saplings, or inherently elevated radioactivity in the ground cause their unusual development.

But research studies have discovered insufficient proof.

The Notorious Meadow

The guide's walks permit participants to participate in a little scientific inquiry of their own. Upon reaching the opening in the forest where Barnea captured his well-known UFO images, he hands the traveler an electromagnetic field detector which registers energy patterns.

"We're stepping into the most energetic area of the forest," he says. "See what you can find."

The trees suddenly stop dead as we emerge into a flawless round. The single plant life is the low vegetation beneath our feet; it's clear that it's not maintained, and looks that this strange clearing is wild, not the work of people.

Between Reality and Imagination

Transylvania generally is a area which fuels fantasy, where the line is indistinct between reality and legend. In countryside villages belief persists in strigoi ("screamers") – supernatural, form-changing vampires, who rise from their graves to haunt local communities.

Bram Stoker's renowned fictional vampire is always connected with Transylvania, and the legendary fortress – a Saxon monolith situated on a cliff edge in the Carpathian Mountains – is heavily promoted as "the count's residence".

But despite legend-filled Transylvania – literally, "the land past the woods" – feels real and understandable compared to these eerie woods, which give the impression of being, for factors radioactive, environmental or entirely legendary, a hub for fantasy projection.

"Inside these woods," the guide states, "the line between fact and fiction is extremely fine."