Venturing into the Planet's Most Ghostly Grove: Contorted Trees, Flying Saucers and Spooky Stories in Romania's Legendary Region.

"Locals dub this place an enigmatic zone of Transylvania," states a local guide, his exhalation creating clouds of condensation in the chilly evening air. "Numerous visitors have disappeared here, many believe it's a portal to another dimension." This expert is escorting a traveler on a night walk through frequently labeled as the world's most haunted grove: Hoia-Baciu, an area covering one square mile of primeval native woodland on the outskirts of the Transylvanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

Hundreds of Years of Enigma

Reports of unusual events here extend back centuries – the grove is called after a local shepherd who is said to have vanished in the long ago, along with his entire flock. But Hoia-Baciu gained global recognition in 1968, when a military technician known as Emil Barnea captured on film what he claimed was a flying saucer hovering above a round opening in the heart of the forest.

Countless ventured inside and vanished without trace. But no need to fear," he states, addressing the visitor with a grin. "Our guided walks have a perfect safety record."

In the time after, Hoia-Baciu has drawn yoga practitioners, traditional medicine people, UFO researchers and ghost hunters from across the world, eager to feel the strange energies reported to reverberate through the forest.

Current Risks

Despite being among the planet's leading hotspots for paranormal enthusiasts, this woodland is at risk. The western districts of Cluj-Napoca – a modern tech hub of a population exceeding 400,000, known as the innovation center of Eastern Europe – are expanding, and real estate firms are advocating for permission to cut down the woods to construct residential buildings.

Except for a few hectares housing locally rare Mediterranean oak trees, the grove is not officially protected, but Marius is confident that the organization he was instrumental in creating – a local conservation effort – will assist in altering this, encouraging the local administrators to recognise the forest's value as a travel hotspot.

Spooky Experiences

When small sticks and autumn leaves snap and crunch beneath their boots, the guide recounts numerous traditional stories and claimed ghostly incidents here.

• A popular tale tells of a young child disappearing during a family outing, later to return half a decade later with complete amnesia of what had happened, without aging a single day, her clothes shy of the smallest trace of soil.
• Frequent accounts describe smartphones and imaging devices inexplicably shutting down on stepping into the forest.
• Feelings range from absolute fear to states of ecstasy.
• Certain individuals state observing strange rashes on their skin, detecting disembodied whispers through the trees, or experience hands grabbing them, even when convinced they're by themselves.

Research Efforts

Despite several of the stories may be unverifiable, there are many things before my eyes that is undeniably strange. All around are trees whose trunks are bent and twisted into bizarre configurations.

Different theories have been suggested to explain the abnormal growth: that hurricane winds could have shaped the young trees, or inherently elevated radioactivity in the soil cause their strange formation.

But research studies have discovered no satisfactory evidence.

The Legendary Opening

Marius's tours allow participants to participate in a modest investigation of their own. As we approach the clearing in the woods where Barnea captured his famous UFO photographs, he passes the traveler an electromagnetic field detector which registers electromagnetic fields.

"We're stepping into the most active part of the forest," he states. "See what you can find."

The vegetation immediately cease as we emerge into a complete ring. The single plant life is the short grass beneath our feet; it's obvious that it's not maintained, and looks that this bizarre meadow is wild, not the work of landscaping.

The Blurred Line

The broader region is a place which stirs the imagination, where the border is unclear between fact and folklore. In countryside villages faith continues in strigoi ("screamers") – undead, shapeshifting vampires, who rise from their graves to frighten regional populations.

Bram Stoker's renowned character Dracula is forever associated with Transylvania, and the legendary fortress – an ancient structure perched on a cliff edge in the mountain range – is keenly marketed as "the count's residence".

But despite folklore-rich Transylvania – literally, "the place beyond the forest" – feels solid and predictable versus the haunted grove, which give the impression of being, for causes related to radiation, environmental or simply folkloric, a center for creative energy.

"Within this forest," the guide says, "the boundary between reality and imagination is extremely fine."