Venturing into the Planet's Most Ghostly Woodland: Twisted Trees, UFOs and Chilling Accounts in Transylvania.

"People refer to this location the Bermuda Triangle of Transylvania," states an experienced guide, his breath producing wisps of condensation in the crisp evening air. "Numerous people have gone missing here, many believe it's an entrance to a different realm." The guide is leading a visitor on a night walk through commonly known as the world's most haunted grove: Hoia-Baciu, a square mile of primeval native woodland on the edges of the Transylvanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

Centuries of Mystery

Stories of strange happenings here extend back centuries – this woodland is titled for a regional herder who is said to have vanished in the far-off times, along with his entire flock. But Hoia-Baciu gained international attention in 1968, when a military technician known as Emil Barnea took a picture of what he claimed was a flying saucer suspended above a oval meadow in the centre of the forest.

Numerous entered this place and failed to return. But don't worry," he continues, addressing the traveler with a smirk. "Our excursions have a 100% return rate."

In the years that followed, Hoia-Baciu has brought in yogis, shamans, extraterrestrial investigators and supernatural researchers from worldwide, eager to feel the unusual forces believed to resonate through the forest.

Current Risks

Although it is one of the world's premier destinations for supernatural fans, the forest is at risk. The outlying areas of Cluj-Napoca – a contemporary technology center of more than 400,000 people, known as the Silicon Valley of eastern Europe – are encroaching, and construction companies are campaigning for permission to cut down the woods to construct residential buildings.

Except for a few hectares containing area-specific oak varieties, the forest is not officially protected, but the guide believes that the initiative he helped establish – the Hoia-Baciu Project – will help to change that, encouraging the local administrators to recognise the forest's significance as a visitor destination.

Spooky Experiences

While branches and autumn leaves break and crackle beneath their shoes, Marius describes numerous folk tales and alleged paranormal happenings here.

• A popular tale tells of a little girl vanishing during a family outing, later to rematerialise half a decade later with no recollection of the events, having not aged a moment, her attire without the slightest speck of dirt.
• Regular stories detail cellphones and camera equipment unexpectedly failing on entering the woods.
• Reactions include full-blown dread to states of ecstasy.
• Some people report noticing strange rashes on their arms, perceiving disembodied whispers through the forest, or experience fingers clutching them, although convinced they're by themselves.

Research Efforts

Although numerous of the accounts may be unverifiable, there are many things before my eyes that is undeniably strange. All around are vegetation whose stems are warped and gnarled into unusual forms.

Different theories have been proposed to clarify the misshapen plants: strong gales could have shaped the young trees, or naturally high electromagnetic fields in the ground cause their crooked growth.

But scientific investigations have found no satisfactory evidence.

The Notorious Meadow

The expert's tours enable visitors to take part in a little scientific inquiry of their own. Upon reaching the clearing in the trees where Barnea took his famous UFO photographs, he passes the traveler an EMF meter which detects EMF readings.

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

The trees abruptly end as they step into a complete ring. The sole vegetation is the short grass beneath our feet; it's apparent that it hasn't been mown, and appears that this bizarre meadow is organic, not the work of human hands.

Fact Versus Fiction

Transylvania generally is a location which inspires creativity, where the line is indistinct between truth and myth. In rural Romanian communities belief persists in strigoi ("screamers") – supernatural, shapeshifting creatures, who return from burial sites to frighten nearby villages.

Bram Stoker's well-known character Dracula is forever associated with Transylvania, and the legendary fortress – a Saxon monolith situated on a rocky outcrop in the Carpathian Mountains – is actively advertised as "Dracula's Castle".

But despite folklore-rich Transylvania – literally, "the territory after the grove" – feels real and understandable in contrast to the haunted grove, which seem to be, for causes related to radiation, atmospheric or entirely legendary, a center for human imaginative power.

"Inside these woods," Marius says, "the division between reality and imagination is very thin."