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"They call this place an enigmatic zone of Transylvania," explains a tour guide, his breath producing puffs of condensation in the cold evening air. "Countless people have vanished here, it's thought there's a gateway to a different realm." This expert is guiding a guest on a nocturnal tour through commonly known as the world's most haunted woodland: Hoia-Baciu, a square mile of primeval local woods on the edges of the metropolis of Cluj-Napoca.

Centuries of Mystery

Stories of bizarre occurrences here date back centuries – the grove is titled for a area shepherd who is said to have vanished in the far-off times, along with his entire flock. But Hoia-Baciu gained global recognition in 1968, when a defense worker called Emil Barnea took a picture of what he claimed was a flying saucer hovering above a oval meadow in the heart of the forest.

Many came in here and vanished without trace. But no need to fear," he continues, addressing the visitor with a grin. "Our tours have a flawless completion rate."

In the decades since, Hoia-Baciu has attracted meditation experts, shamans, UFO researchers and paranormal investigators from worldwide, interested in encountering the strange energies reported to reverberate through the forest.

Modern Threats

It may be one of the world's premier pilgrimage sites for supernatural fans, the grove is facing danger. The western districts of Cluj-Napoca – a contemporary technology center of more than 400,000 people, called the tech capital of eastern Europe – are encroaching, and construction companies are advocating for approval to cut down the woods to construct residential buildings.

Except for a few hectares home to regionally uncommon oak varieties, the forest is without conservation status, but Marius is confident that the company he co-founded – a dedicated preservation group – will contribute to improving the situation, encouraging the government officials to acknowledge the forest's value as a tourist attraction.

Chilling Events

As twigs and autumn leaves snap and crunch beneath their boots, the guide tells numerous local legends and claimed ghostly incidents here.

• One famous story tells of a five-year-old girl going missing during a group gathering, only to return five years later with no memory of her experience, showing no signs of aging a day, her garments shy of the tiniest bit of dirt.
• Frequent accounts detail smartphones and photography gear inexplicably shutting down on venturing inside.
• Feelings range from complete terror to moments of euphoria.
• Certain individuals report seeing strange rashes on their arms, detecting unseen murmurs through the trees, or sense palms pushing them, despite being sure they are alone.

Study Attempts

Although numerous of the stories may be impossible to confirm, numerous elements clearly observable that is undeniably strange. Everywhere you look are vegetation whose stems are bent and twisted into unusual forms.

Various suggestions have been proposed to clarify the abnormal growth: powerful storms could have bent the saplings, or naturally high electromagnetic fields in the earth account for their unusual development.

But formal examinations have found insufficient proof.

The Famous Clearing

The guide's tours allow visitors to take part in a small-scale research of their own. As we approach the meadow in the forest where Barnea photographed his renowned UFO pictures, he hands his guest an EMF meter which detects electromagnetic fields.

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

The trees abruptly end as they step into a perfect circle. The single plant life is the trimmed turf beneath the ground; it's obvious that it hasn't been mown, and appears that this unusual opening is wild, not the work of people.

The Blurred Line

The broader region is a place which fuels fantasy, where the line is indistinct between truth and myth. In rural Romanian communities superstition remains in strigoi ("screamers") – otherworldly, form-changing creatures, who rise from their graves to terrorise nearby villages.

The famous author's well-known character Dracula is always connected with Transylvania, and Bran Castle – a medieval building perched on a rocky outcrop in the Transylvanian Alps – is keenly marketed as "the vampire's home".

But despite myth-shrouded Transylvania – literally, "the place beyond the forest" – feels solid and predictable compared to this spooky forest, which seem to be, for causes radioactive, climatic or entirely legendary, a nexus for fantasy projection.

"In Hoia-Baciu," Marius comments, "the boundary between reality and imagination is very thin."