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"People refer to this location an enigmatic zone of Transylvania," states a tour guide, the air from his lungs forming puffs of condensation in the crisp night air. "Numerous people have vanished here, many believe there's a gateway to another dimension." The guide is guiding a traveler on a evening stroll through what is often described as the planet's most ghostly woodland: Hoia-Baciu, a section spanning 640 acres of ancient indigenous forest on the outskirts of the Transylvanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

Hundreds of Years of Enigma

Stories of strange happenings here date back centuries – this woodland is named after a area shepherd who is believed to have disappeared in the distant past, along with 200 of his sheep. But Hoia-Baciu gained worldwide fame in 1968, when a military technician called Emil Barnea took a picture of what he described as a flying saucer floating above a round opening in the middle of the forest.

Countless ventured inside and never came out. But don't worry," he continues, facing his guest with a smirk. "Our tours have a perfect safety record."

In the decades since, Hoia-Baciu has attracted meditation experts, shamans, UFO researchers and ghost hunters from worldwide, eager to feel the unusual forces reported to reverberate through the forest.

Current Risks

Despite being one of the world's premier destinations for supernatural fans, this woodland is under threat. The outlying areas of Cluj-Napoca – an innovative digital cluster of a population exceeding 400,000, known as the tech capital of eastern Europe – are encroaching, and developers are advocating for permission to cut down the woods to build apartment blocks.

Aside from a few hectares home to regionally uncommon oak varieties, the grove is not officially protected, but the guide hopes that the company he was instrumental in creating – a dedicated preservation group – will help to change that, encouraging the government officials to acknowledge the forest's significance as a travel hotspot.

Spooky Experiences

When small sticks and fall foliage split and rustle beneath their shoes, the guide recounts numerous traditional stories and alleged paranormal happenings here.

• One famous story tells of a five-year-old girl disappearing during a family outing, then to rematerialise five years later with no memory of the events, without aging a day, her clothes without the tiniest bit of dust.
• More common reports describe smartphones and photography gear mysteriously turning off on stepping into the forest.
• Feelings include full-blown dread to states of ecstasy.
• Some people state observing bizarre skin irritations on their skin, detecting unseen murmurs through the forest, or sense palms pushing them, although convinced they're by themselves.

Scientific Investigations

While many of the stories may be unverifiable, there is much clearly observable that is undeniably strange. Everywhere you look are vegetation whose stems are bent and twisted into fantastical shapes.

Multiple explanations have been suggested to clarify the deformed trees: powerful storms could have bent the saplings, or inherently elevated radioactivity in the soil account for their strange formation.

But research studies have found inconclusive results.

The Legendary Opening

Marius's excursions allow participants to engage in a little scientific inquiry of their own. Upon reaching the clearing in the forest where Barnea took his well-known UFO pictures, he gives the traveler an EMF meter which registers EMF readings.

"We're entering the most powerful part of the forest," he says. "Try to detect something."

The vegetation suddenly stop dead as they step into a perfect circle. The only greenery is the low vegetation beneath our feet; it's obvious that it hasn't been mown, and seems that this strange clearing is organic, not the work of human hands.

The Blurred Line

Transylvania generally is a area which stirs the imagination, where the border is blurred between truth and myth. In traditional settlements faith continues in strigoi ("screamers") – undead, shapeshifting vampires, who return from burial sites to frighten local communities.

The novelist's well-known fictional vampire is always connected with Transylvania, and Bran Castle – a Saxon monolith located on a stone formation in the mountain range – is keenly marketed as "the vampire's home".

But including folklore-rich Transylvania – truly, "the territory after the grove" – appears real and understandable in contrast to the haunted grove, which give the impression of being, for causes nuclear, environmental or entirely legendary, a nexus for human imaginative power.

"In Hoia-Baciu," the guide states, "the line between truth and fantasy is extremely fine."