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"Locals dub this location the Bermuda Triangle of Transylvania," explains an experienced guide, his breath creating wisps of condensation in the crisp evening air. "Numerous people have gone missing here, some say it's an entrance to another dimension." This expert is escorting a visitor on a night walk through commonly known as the world's most haunted grove: Hoia-Baciu, an area covering one square mile of primeval indigenous forest on the fringes of the Transylvanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

Centuries of Mystery

Reports of strange happenings here go back hundreds of years – the forest is called after a local shepherd who is reportedly went missing in the distant past, along with two hundred animals. But Hoia-Baciu achieved international attention in 1968, when a military technician called Emil Barnea captured on film what he claimed was a flying saucer suspended above a oval meadow in the middle of the forest.

Numerous entered this place and failed to return. But no need to fear," he adds, facing the visitor with a smirk. "Our excursions have a perfect safety record."

In the decades since, Hoia-Baciu has brought in meditation experts, spiritual healers, UFO researchers and paranormal investigators from across the world, eager to feel the mysterious powers reported to reverberate through the forest.

Current Risks

Although it is one of the world's premier pilgrimage sites for supernatural fans, this woodland is at risk. The outlying areas of Cluj-Napoca – an innovative digital cluster of over 400,000 residents, known as the tech capital of the region – are expanding, and developers are advocating for permission to remove the forest to erect housing complexes.

Except for a small area containing regionally uncommon Mediterranean oak trees, the grove is not officially protected, but Marius is confident that the company he helped establish – a local conservation effort – will contribute to improving the situation, encouraging the authorities to appreciate the forest's value as a visitor destination.

Spooky Experiences

When small sticks and autumn leaves snap and crunch beneath their footwear, Marius describes some of the folk tales and reported paranormal happenings here.

• A well-known account tells of a young child disappearing during a family outing, then to return half a decade later with no recollection of the events, showing no signs of aging a day, her attire shy of the slightest speck of dirt.
• Regular stories describe cellphones and photography gear unexpectedly failing on entering the woods.
• Emotional responses include full-blown dread to feelings of joy.
• Some people state noticing strange rashes on their bodies, perceiving disembodied whispers through the forest, or feel fingers clutching them, even when sure they are alone.

Scientific Investigations

Although numerous of the stories may be impossible to confirm, numerous elements before my eyes that is undeniably strange. Everywhere you look are vegetation whose stems are bent and twisted into bizarre configurations.

Multiple explanations have been proposed to account for the misshapen plants: strong gales could have shaped the young trees, or naturally high radioactivity in the soil explain their unusual development.

But research studies have found inconclusive results.

The Famous Clearing

The guide's tours allow participants to take part in a little scientific inquiry of their own. As we approach the opening in the trees where Barnea took his well-known UFO pictures, he passes his guest an electromagnetic field detector which registers energy patterns.

"We're entering the most powerful area of the forest," he says. "Discover what's here."

The vegetation abruptly end as they step into a perfect circle. The only greenery is the short grass beneath their shoes; it's apparent that it's not maintained, and looks that this bizarre meadow is organic, not the creation of human hands.

Fact Versus Fiction

The broader region is a area which inspires creativity, where the division is blurred between truth and myth. In rural Romanian communities belief persists in strigoi ("screamers") – otherworldly, appearance-altering vampires, who emerge from tombs to haunt local communities.

Bram Stoker's famous fictional vampire is always connected with Transylvania, and the legendary fortress – a medieval building situated on a cliff edge in the mountain range – is heavily promoted as "the vampire's home".

But even legend-filled Transylvania – actually, "the land past the woods" – seems real and understandable versus these eerie woods, which appear to be, for reasons radioactive, atmospheric or entirely legendary, a hub for fantasy projection.

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