Venturing into this Planet's Most Ghostly Forest: Twisted Trees, UFOs and Eerie Tales in Romania's Legendary Region.

"They call this place the Bermuda Triangle of Transylvania," states a local guide, his exhalation forming puffs of condensation in the cold dusk atmosphere. "Countless individuals have disappeared here, many believe there's a gateway to another dimension." The guide is escorting a visitor on a evening stroll through what is often described as the globe's spookiest woodland: Hoia-Baciu, a section spanning 640 acres of primeval local woods on the fringes of the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

Hundreds of Years of Enigma

Reports of bizarre occurrences here go back centuries – the grove is titled for a regional herder who is reportedly went missing in the long ago, together with 200 of his sheep. But Hoia-Baciu gained global recognition in 1968, when a military technician named Emil Barnea photographed what he claimed was a unidentified flying object hovering above a oval meadow in the centre of the forest.

Countless ventured inside and vanished without trace. But no need to fear," he continues, turning to the traveler with a smirk. "Our guided walks have a flawless completion rate."

In the decades since, Hoia-Baciu has drawn yoga practitioners, shamans, extraterrestrial investigators and paranormal investigators from across the world, eager to feel the strange energies believed to resonate through the forest.

Modern Threats

It may be a top global hotspots for supernatural fans, this woodland is at risk. The western suburbs of Cluj-Napoca – an innovative digital cluster of more than 400,000 people, described as the innovation center of the region – are advancing, and developers are advocating for permission to clear the trees to erect housing complexes.

Aside from a few hectares housing locally rare specific tree species, this woodland is without conservation status, but the guide is confident that the initiative he co-founded – a local conservation effort – will assist in altering this, persuading the local administrators to acknowledge the forest's importance as a visitor destination.

Spooky Experiences

When small sticks and seasonal debris snap and crunch beneath their footwear, Marius recounts numerous folk tales and alleged supernatural events here.

• A popular tale recounts a young child disappearing during a family outing, then to rematerialise after five years with no memory of the events, having not aged a day, her attire shy of the slightest speck of soil.
• Frequent accounts explain smartphones and imaging devices unexpectedly failing on venturing inside.
• Feelings range from absolute fear to feelings of joy.
• Certain individuals report noticing unusual marks on their arms, detecting unseen murmurs through the trees, or sense palms pushing them, despite being sure they are alone.

Study Attempts

While many of the tales may be unverifiable, numerous elements before my eyes that is undeniably strange. All around are trees whose stems are bent and twisted into unusual forms.

Multiple explanations have been proposed to explain the misshapen plants: strong gales could have bent the saplings, or inherently elevated electromagnetic fields in the soil explain their strange formation.

But research studies have turned up insufficient proof.

The Famous Clearing

The guide's excursions permit guests to engage in a little scientific inquiry of their own. Upon reaching the opening in the trees where Barnea captured his famous UFO photographs, he hands the traveler an EMF meter which registers energy patterns.

"We're entering the most energetic section of the forest," he comments. "Discover what's here."

The plants immediately cease as they step into a complete ring. The only greenery is the short grass beneath our feet; it's obvious that it hasn't been mown, and looks that this bizarre meadow is organic, not the creation of human hands.

Fact Versus Fiction

The broader region is a location which stirs the imagination, where the border is unclear between reality and legend. In traditional settlements superstition remains in strigoi ("screamers") – undead, shapeshifting bloodsuckers, who return from burial sites to terrorise regional populations.

The famous author's well-known fictional vampire is permanently linked with Transylvania, and the legendary fortress – an ancient structure situated on a cliff edge in the mountain range – is actively advertised as "the vampire's home".

But despite myth-shrouded Transylvania – literally, "the territory after the grove" – appears tangible and comprehensible compared to this spooky forest, which appear to be, for reasons nuclear, atmospheric or entirely legendary, a hub for fantasy projection.

"Within this forest," Marius says, "the division between reality and imagination is very thin."