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"They call this place an enigmatic zone of Transylvania," states an experienced guide, his exhalation creating puffs of vapor in the cold evening air. "Countless visitors have disappeared here, it's thought there's a gateway to a parallel world." The guide is escorting a guest on a evening stroll through commonly known as the planet's most ghostly woodland: Hoia-Baciu, a square mile of ancient native woodland on the edges of the Transylvanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

A Long History of the Unexplained

Reports of bizarre occurrences here go back centuries – the grove is called after a regional herder who is believed to have disappeared in the distant past, together with his entire flock. But Hoia-Baciu achieved international attention in 1968, when a defense worker called Emil Barnea captured on film what he described as a flying saucer floating above a oval meadow in the heart of the forest.

Countless ventured inside and never came out. But no need to fear," he continues, turning to his guest with a grin. "Our excursions have a 100% return rate."

In the years that followed, Hoia-Baciu has drawn meditation experts, spiritual healers, ufologists and ghost hunters from around the globe, eager to feel the unusual forces reported to reverberate through the forest.

Current Risks

Despite being one of the world's premier pilgrimage sites for paranormal enthusiasts, this woodland is at risk. The outlying areas of Cluj-Napoca – a contemporary technology center of more than 400,000 people, known as the innovation center of the region – are expanding, and developers are pushing for authorization to clear the trees to build apartment blocks.

Barring a small area housing regionally uncommon Mediterranean oak trees, this woodland is without conservation status, but the guide is confident that the initiative he helped establish – a dedicated preservation group – will assist in altering this, motivating the government officials to appreciate the forest's significance as a visitor destination.

Chilling Events

As twigs and autumn leaves split and rustle beneath their shoes, the guide describes various traditional stories and reported ghostly incidents here.

• One famous story tells of a young child vanishing during a family outing, later to return half a decade later with complete amnesia of what had happened, having not aged a single day, her garments without the tiniest bit of soil.
• Frequent accounts explain mobile phones and photography gear inexplicably shutting down on stepping into the forest.
• Emotional responses vary from complete terror to states of ecstasy.
• Various visitors report noticing bizarre skin irritations on their bodies, hearing unseen murmurs through the forest, or sense palms pushing them, despite being convinced they're by themselves.

Research Efforts

While many of the stories may be hard to prove, there is much before my eyes that is undeniably strange. Everywhere you look are plants whose bases are curved and contorted into fantastical shapes.

Different theories have been suggested to clarify the abnormal growth: powerful storms could have altered the growth, or naturally high radioactivity in the soil cause their unusual development.

But research studies have discovered no satisfactory evidence.

The Legendary Opening

The expert's tours enable guests to participate in a modest investigation of their own. Upon reaching the clearing in the forest where Barnea captured his well-known UFO pictures, he hands the visitor an electromagnetic field detector which detects EMF readings.

"We're venturing into the most energetic section of the forest," he comments. "Try to detect something."

The trees immediately cease as the group enters into a perfect circle. The single plant life is the low vegetation beneath our feet; it's obvious that it's naturally occurring, and appears that this strange clearing is natural, not the creation of landscaping.

The Blurred Line

This part of Romania is a place which inspires creativity, where the division is unclear between fact and folklore. In rural Romanian communities belief persists in strigoi ("screamers") – undead, shapeshifting creatures, who return from burial sites to haunt regional populations.

The novelist's famous vampire Count Dracula is forever associated with Transylvania, and the legendary fortress – a Saxon monolith situated on a rocky outcrop in the Carpathian Mountains – is keenly marketed as "the vampire's home".

But including folklore-rich Transylvania – actually, "the land past the woods" – feels tangible and comprehensible in contrast to this spooky forest, which seem to be, for factors related to radiation, atmospheric or simply folkloric, a center for fantasy projection.

"In Hoia-Baciu," the guide says, "the line between fact and fiction is remarkably blurred."