Exploring this Planet's Most Ghostly Woodland: Contorted Trees, Flying Saucers and Eerie Tales in Transylvania.

"People refer to this place a mysterious vortex of Transylvania," states a tour guide, his breath forming wisps of mist in the chilly evening air. "Numerous people have disappeared here, some say it's a portal to a parallel world." The guide is escorting a traveler on a evening stroll through what is often described as the planet's most ghostly woodland: Hoia-Baciu, an area covering one square mile of primeval local woods on the edges of the Transylvanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

A Long History of the Unexplained

Accounts of unusual events here extend back hundreds of years – this woodland is called after a area shepherd who is said to have vanished in the far-off times, accompanied by his entire flock. But Hoia-Baciu achieved worldwide fame in 1968, when a defense worker named Emil Barnea took a picture of what he described as a flying saucer suspended above a oval meadow in the middle of the forest.

Countless ventured inside and failed to return. But rest assured," he adds, turning to his guest with a smile. "Our tours have a flawless completion rate."

In the time after, Hoia-Baciu has brought in yogis, spiritual healers, UFO researchers and paranormal investigators from across the world, interested in encountering the unusual forces reported to reverberate through the forest.

Current Risks

It may be among the planet's leading hotspots for supernatural fans, this woodland is under threat. The outlying areas of Cluj-Napoca – a contemporary technology center of a population exceeding 400,000, known as the tech capital of the region – are advancing, and developers are campaigning for approval to clear the trees to build apartment blocks.

Barring a small area home to locally rare Mediterranean oak trees, the grove is not officially protected, but the guide is confident that the company he helped establish – a dedicated preservation group – will help to change that, motivating the government officials to recognise the forest's value as a travel hotspot.

Chilling Events

While branches and fall foliage split and rustle beneath their footwear, the guide tells some of the folk tales and alleged supernatural events here.

• A popular tale tells of a little girl going missing during a group gathering, only to reappear after five years with complete amnesia of what had happened, showing no signs of aging a single day, her garments shy of the slightest speck of dust.
• Regular stories explain mobile phones and camera equipment inexplicably shutting down on entering the woods.
• Emotional responses vary from absolute fear to moments of euphoria.
• Various visitors claim noticing unusual marks on their bodies, hearing disembodied whispers through the forest, or experience hands grabbing them, even when convinced they're by themselves.

Research Efforts

Despite several of the stories may be impossible to confirm, numerous elements visibly present that is definitely bizarre. All around are trees whose stems are bent and twisted into fantastical shapes.

Multiple explanations have been given to explain the deformed trees: that hurricane winds could have shaped the young trees, or inherently elevated electromagnetic fields in the soil cause their crooked growth.

But formal examinations have found insufficient proof.

The Famous Clearing

The expert's walks allow visitors to engage in a little scientific inquiry of their own. Upon reaching the opening in the woods where Barnea took his renowned UFO images, he gives the traveler an ghost-hunting device which detects energy patterns.

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

The plants suddenly stop dead as they step into a perfect circle. The sole vegetation is the short grass beneath our feet; it's clear that it hasn't been mown, and appears that this unusual opening is organic, not the result of human hands.

Fact Versus Fiction

The broader region is a location which inspires creativity, where the division is unclear between truth and myth. In countryside villages superstition remains in strigoi ("screamers") – undead, appearance-altering creatures, who return from burial sites to frighten regional populations.

Bram Stoker's renowned character Dracula is forever associated with Transylvania, and the legendary fortress – a Saxon monolith perched on a cliff edge in the Carpathian Mountains – is heavily promoted as "Dracula's Castle".

But including myth-shrouded Transylvania – truly, "the place beyond the forest" – feels solid and predictable in contrast to the haunted grove, which appear to be, for causes radioactive, climatic or purely mythical, a nexus for human imaginative power.

"In Hoia-Baciu," Marius states, "the line between reality and imagination is extremely fine."