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"People refer to this location the Bermuda Triangle of Transylvania," remarks a local guide, the air from his lungs producing wisps of mist in the cold dusk atmosphere. "Numerous individuals have gone missing here, some say there's a gateway to a parallel world." The guide is guiding a visitor on a evening stroll through commonly known as the world's most haunted forest: Hoia-Baciu, a square mile of ancient native woodland on the edges of the metropolis of Cluj-Napoca.

Hundreds of Years of Enigma

Reports of bizarre occurrences here extend back centuries – the grove is named after a area shepherd who is believed to have disappeared in the far-off times, together with his entire flock. But Hoia-Baciu came to international attention in 1968, when an army specialist named Emil Barnea captured on film what he reported as a UFO suspended above a oval meadow in the centre of the forest.

Many came in here and vanished without trace. But don't worry," he adds, turning to the traveler with a smile. "Our tours have a flawless completion rate."

In the decades since, Hoia-Baciu has attracted yogis, traditional medicine people, extraterrestrial investigators and paranormal investigators from across the world, interested in encountering the strange energies believed to resonate through the forest.

Current Risks

Despite being among the planet's leading pilgrimage sites for paranormal enthusiasts, this woodland is at risk. The western districts of Cluj-Napoca – a contemporary technology center of a population exceeding 400,000, known as the Silicon Valley of eastern Europe – are expanding, and real estate firms are pushing for permission to clear the trees to erect housing complexes.

Aside from a limited section home to locally rare specific tree species, the forest is not officially protected, but Marius hopes that the initiative he co-founded – the Hoia-Baciu Project – will help to change that, persuading the local administrators to recognise the forest's significance as a travel hotspot.

Eerie Encounters

As twigs and fall foliage split and rustle beneath their footwear, Marius describes various local legends and reported paranormal happenings here.

• A popular tale recounts a young child vanishing during a group gathering, then to rematerialise after five years with no memory of the events, without aging a moment, her clothes lacking the smallest trace of soil.
• Regular stories describe smartphones and photography gear unexpectedly failing on stepping into the forest.
• Feelings include full-blown dread to states of ecstasy.
• Various visitors report seeing unusual marks on their bodies, hearing unseen murmurs through the woodland, or sense palms pushing them, even when convinced they're by themselves.

Scientific Investigations

Despite several of the stories may be unverifiable, there are many things visibly present that is undeniably strange. Throughout the area are vegetation whose bases are curved and contorted into unusual forms.

Different theories have been suggested to account for the misshapen plants: powerful storms could have altered the growth, or inherently elevated radiation levels in the ground cause their crooked growth.

But research studies have found no satisfactory evidence.

The Legendary Opening

The expert's tours allow guests to participate in a small-scale research of their own. As we approach the opening in the trees where Barnea captured his famous UFO pictures, he hands his guest an electromagnetic field detector which measures energy patterns.

"We're entering the most active part of the forest," he states. "See what you can find."

The plants suddenly stop dead as we emerge into a flawless round. The only greenery is the trimmed turf beneath their shoes; it's clear that it's not maintained, and looks that this unusual opening is natural, not the work of landscaping.

Between Reality and Imagination

Transylvania generally is a area which fuels fantasy, where the division is indistinct between reality and legend. In traditional settlements superstition remains in strigoi ("screamers") – supernatural, appearance-altering bloodsuckers, who emerge from tombs to frighten local communities.

Bram Stoker's famous fictional vampire is permanently linked with Transylvania, and the historic stronghold – a Saxon monolith situated on a stone formation in the Carpathian Mountains – is keenly marketed as "the count's residence".

But despite legend-filled Transylvania – truly, "the territory after the grove" – seems real and understandable compared to these eerie woods, which give the impression of being, for factors radioactive, atmospheric or simply folkloric, a center for fantasy projection.

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