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"They call this location an enigmatic zone of Transylvania," states a local guide, his breath forming puffs of mist in the crisp night air. "Countless individuals have vanished here, many believe it's a portal to another dimension." Marius is guiding a visitor on a night walk through what is often described as the planet's most ghostly grove: Hoia-Baciu, an area covering one square mile of primeval native woodland on the outskirts of the metropolis of Cluj-Napoca.

A Long History of the Unexplained

Stories of unusual events here extend back hundreds of years – the forest is titled for a regional herder who is believed to have disappeared in the distant past, together with 200 of his sheep. But Hoia-Baciu came to international attention in 1968, when a defense worker called Emil Barnea captured on film what he described as a flying saucer floating above a circular clearing in the centre of the forest.

Many came in here and failed to return. But rest assured," he continues, turning to his guest with a smirk. "Our excursions have a 100% return rate."

In the time after, Hoia-Baciu has attracted yogis, traditional medicine people, UFO researchers and supernatural researchers from across the world, interested in encountering the unusual forces believed to resonate through the forest.

Current Risks

Although it is a top global destinations for lovers of the paranormal, the grove is facing danger. The western districts of Cluj-Napoca – a contemporary technology center of more than 400,000 people, described as the tech capital of the region – are advancing, and construction companies are pushing for permission to clear the trees to construct residential buildings.

Aside from a few hectares home to locally rare oak varieties, the grove is not officially protected, but the guide believes that the initiative he was instrumental in creating – a local conservation effort – will contribute to improving the situation, persuading the local administrators to acknowledge the forest's value as a travel hotspot.

Eerie Encounters

When small sticks and seasonal debris snap and crunch beneath their boots, Marius recounts some of the local legends and alleged paranormal happenings here.

• A popular tale tells of a five-year-old girl going missing during a family outing, then to return five years later with complete amnesia of her experience, without aging a moment, her attire lacking the tiniest bit of soil.
• Frequent accounts explain cellphones and photography gear unexpectedly failing on entering the woods.
• Reactions vary from full-blown dread to states of ecstasy.
• Certain individuals report observing unusual marks on their arms, detecting unseen murmurs through the trees, or feel fingers clutching them, although certain nobody is nearby.

Research Efforts

While many of the accounts may be impossible to confirm, there are many things before my eyes that is definitely bizarre. Throughout the area are trees whose stems are curved and contorted into fantastical shapes.

Various suggestions have been proposed to account for the deformed trees: powerful storms could have bent the saplings, or typically increased radiation levels in the soil cause their strange formation.

But formal examinations have found inconclusive results.

The Notorious Meadow

Marius's walks enable guests to take part in a small-scale research of their own. When nearing the clearing in the trees where Barnea photographed his famous UFO pictures, he passes the visitor an ghost-hunting device which detects EMF readings.

"We're entering the most powerful section of the forest," he comments. "See what you can find."

The plants suddenly stop dead as the group enters into a complete ring. The single plant life is the trimmed turf beneath the ground; it's apparent that it's not maintained, and looks that this strange clearing is natural, not the work of landscaping.

Between Reality and Imagination

This part of Romania is a area which stirs the imagination, where the line is blurred between reality and legend. In rural Romanian communities superstition remains in strigoi ("screamers") – supernatural, appearance-altering creatures, who emerge from tombs to haunt nearby villages.

The famous author's famous character Dracula is forever associated with Transylvania, and Bran Castle – an ancient structure located on a cliff edge in the Transylvanian Alps – is keenly marketed as "Dracula's Castle".

But including myth-shrouded Transylvania – literally, "the land past the woods" – feels tangible and comprehensible versus the haunted grove, which seem to be, for causes nuclear, climatic or simply folkloric, a nexus for creative energy.

"Inside these woods," Marius states, "the boundary between reality and imagination is extremely fine."