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"Locals dub this spot an enigmatic zone of Transylvania," states a local guide, his breath producing puffs of vapor in the crisp dusk atmosphere. "Countless visitors have gone missing here, many believe it's an entrance to another dimension." This expert is guiding a visitor on a evening stroll through frequently labeled as the planet's most ghostly grove: Hoia-Baciu, a section spanning 640 acres of old-growth indigenous forest on the fringes of the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

A Long History of the Unexplained

Accounts of strange happenings here extend back a long time – this woodland is called after a regional herder who is believed to have disappeared in the long ago, together with two hundred animals. But Hoia-Baciu came to international attention in 1968, when a defense worker called Emil Barnea photographed what he claimed was a UFO suspended above a oval meadow in the middle of the forest.

Numerous entered this place and never came out. But don't worry," he adds, turning to the traveler with a smirk. "Our excursions have a flawless completion rate."

In the time after, Hoia-Baciu has attracted yogis, shamans, extraterrestrial investigators and supernatural researchers from across the world, interested in encountering the unusual forces reported to reverberate through the forest.

Current Risks

Despite being one of the world's premier pilgrimage sites for supernatural fans, the forest is under threat. The outlying areas of Cluj-Napoca – an innovative digital cluster of over 400,000 residents, known as the tech capital of Eastern Europe – are encroaching, and real estate firms are advocating for approval to clear the trees to erect housing complexes.

Except for a few hectares housing area-specific Mediterranean oak trees, the grove is without conservation status, but the guide believes that the initiative he helped establish – the Hoia-Baciu Project – will help to change that, persuading the local administrators to recognise the forest's value as a visitor destination.

Chilling Events

When small sticks and autumn leaves snap and crunch beneath their boots, Marius describes numerous folk tales and reported paranormal happenings here.

• A well-known account tells of a five-year-old girl vanishing during a family picnic, then to rematerialise five years later with no recollection of her experience, showing no signs of aging a day, her clothes lacking the tiniest bit of dust.
• More common reports describe cellphones and photography gear unexpectedly failing on venturing inside.
• Reactions include full-blown dread to states of ecstasy.
• Various visitors report noticing unusual marks on their arms, hearing ghostly voices through the forest, or experience hands grabbing them, despite being certain nobody is nearby.

Scientific Investigations

Although numerous of the stories may be impossible to confirm, there is much visibly present that is definitely bizarre. All around are plants whose stems are warped and gnarled into unusual forms.

Various suggestions have been given to clarify the deformed trees: strong gales could have shaped the young trees, or typically increased electromagnetic fields in the ground explain their unusual development.

But scientific investigations have discovered insufficient proof.

The Notorious Meadow

The expert's tours permit guests to participate in a modest investigation of their own. When nearing the meadow in the forest where Barnea captured his famous UFO pictures, he passes his guest an ghost-hunting device which detects EMF readings.

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

The vegetation suddenly stop dead as we emerge into a perfect circle. The only greenery is the low vegetation beneath our feet; it's apparent that it hasn't been mown, and appears that this strange clearing is wild, not the work of people.

Fact Versus Fiction

This part of Romania is a place which stirs the imagination, where the division is indistinct between truth and myth. In traditional settlements faith continues in strigoi ("screamers") – undead, appearance-altering creatures, who return from burial sites to terrorise regional populations.

The famous author's well-known character Dracula is forever associated with Transylvania, and the historic stronghold – an ancient structure situated on a stone formation in the Transylvanian Alps – is actively advertised as "the count's residence".

But even myth-shrouded Transylvania – actually, "the territory after the grove" – feels solid and predictable versus these eerie woods, which give the impression of being, for causes radioactive, climatic or simply folkloric, a nexus for human imaginative power.

"Inside these woods," the guide comments, "the division between truth and fantasy is remarkably blurred."