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"They call this spot an enigmatic zone of Transylvania," explains a tour guide, his breath forming wisps of vapor in the cold night air. "Numerous visitors have disappeared here, some say there's a gateway to a parallel world." The guide is guiding a visitor on a evening stroll through what is often described as the planet's most ghostly grove: Hoia-Baciu, a section spanning 640 acres of ancient native woodland on the outskirts of the metropolis of Cluj-Napoca.

A Long History of the Unexplained

Reports of bizarre occurrences here extend back hundreds of years – the forest is titled for a regional herder who is believed to have disappeared in the far-off times, along with 200 of his sheep. But Hoia-Baciu gained global recognition in 1968, when a defense worker known as Emil Barnea captured on film what he described as a flying saucer floating above a circular clearing in the middle of the forest.

Numerous entered this place and vanished without trace. But don't worry," he continues, turning to his guest with a smile. "Our excursions have a perfect safety record."

In the decades since, Hoia-Baciu has drawn yogis, shamans, extraterrestrial investigators and paranormal investigators from worldwide, curious to experience the mysterious powers said to echo through the forest.

Contemporary Dangers

Despite being one of the world's premier pilgrimage sites for paranormal enthusiasts, this woodland is facing danger. The western suburbs of Cluj-Napoca – a contemporary technology center of a population exceeding 400,000, known as the tech capital of Eastern Europe – are encroaching, and construction companies are pushing for authorization to clear the trees to build apartment blocks.

Barring a small area home to locally rare Mediterranean oak trees, the grove is without conservation status, but the guide hopes that the organization he was instrumental in creating – a local conservation effort – will help to change that, encouraging the authorities to appreciate the forest's value as a tourist attraction.

Chilling Events

As twigs and autumn leaves snap and crunch beneath their footwear, Marius describes some of the local legends and claimed supernatural events here.

• A well-known account describes a little girl disappearing during a group gathering, later to rematerialise after five years with no recollection of the events, having not aged a day, her garments shy of the smallest trace of dust.
• Frequent accounts explain smartphones and camera equipment mysteriously turning off on stepping into the forest.
• Reactions include absolute fear to feelings of joy.
• Various visitors report observing strange rashes on their bodies, detecting unseen murmurs through the forest, or sense hands grabbing them, despite being convinced they're by themselves.

Scientific Investigations

Despite several of the stories may be unverifiable, there is much visibly present that is certainly unusual. All around are vegetation whose trunks are bent and twisted into bizarre configurations.

Various suggestions have been given to account for the deformed trees: that hurricane winds could have shaped the young trees, or typically increased electromagnetic fields in the ground cause their unusual development.

But research studies have turned up insufficient proof.

The Notorious Meadow

The guide's excursions enable participants to engage in a small-scale research of their own. As we approach the opening in the forest where Barnea captured his well-known UFO photographs, he passes his guest an EMF meter which detects energy patterns.

"We're venturing into the most energetic area of the forest," he says. "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 their shoes; it's apparent that it's not maintained, and looks that this bizarre meadow is natural, not the creation of people.

The Blurred Line

Transylvania generally is a area which fuels fantasy, where the line is unclear between fact and folklore. In traditional settlements belief persists in strigoi ("screamers") – undead, form-changing creatures, who rise from their graves to frighten regional populations.

Bram Stoker's well-known character Dracula is permanently linked with Transylvania, and the legendary fortress – a medieval building located on a cliff edge in the Transylvanian Alps – is keenly marketed as "the vampire's home".

But even legend-filled Transylvania – truly, "the territory after the grove" – feels solid and predictable in contrast to these eerie woods, which seem to be, for factors related to radiation, atmospheric or simply folkloric, a center for creative energy.

"Within this forest," Marius comments, "the line between reality and imagination is very thin."