🔗 Share this article Exploring this Planet's Most Ghostly Woodland: Contorted Trees, UFOs and Chilling Accounts in Transylvania. "Locals dub this spot the Bermuda Triangle of Transylvania," explains a tour guide, the air from his lungs producing puffs of vapor in the crisp dusk atmosphere. "Numerous visitors have disappeared here, it's thought there's a gateway to a different realm." Marius is guiding a visitor on a nocturnal tour through commonly known as the planet's most ghostly woodland: Hoia-Baciu, a section spanning 640 acres of primeval local woods on the outskirts of the Transylvanian city of Cluj-Napoca. Centuries of Mystery Stories of strange happenings here go back a long time – the grove is called after a local shepherd who is believed to have disappeared in the distant past, accompanied by 200 of his sheep. But Hoia-Baciu achieved worldwide fame in 1968, when a military technician named Emil Barnea took a picture of what he claimed was a UFO hovering above a round opening in the centre of the forest. Many came in here and vanished without trace. But no need to fear," he adds, turning to his guest with a grin. "Our guided walks have a flawless completion rate." In the decades since, Hoia-Baciu has attracted meditation experts, shamans, UFO researchers and ghost hunters from worldwide, interested in encountering the mysterious powers believed to resonate through the forest. Modern Threats It may be one of the world's premier destinations for lovers of the paranormal, the forest is under threat. The western suburbs of Cluj-Napoca – an innovative digital cluster of over 400,000 residents, called the innovation center of the region – are advancing, and real estate firms are campaigning for authorization to cut down the woods to erect housing complexes. Barring a small area home to area-specific Mediterranean oak trees, the forest is not officially protected, but Marius believes that the initiative he was instrumental in creating – the Hoia-Baciu Project – will assist in altering this, encouraging the government officials to recognise the forest's importance as a travel hotspot. Spooky Experiences As twigs and autumn leaves snap and crunch beneath their boots, the guide describes some of the local legends and reported supernatural events here. One famous story describes a little girl going missing during a group gathering, later to reappear after five years with no recollection of her experience, showing no signs of aging a single day, her garments without the tiniest bit of dust. Frequent accounts describe cellphones and camera equipment mysteriously turning off on venturing inside. Emotional responses include full-blown dread to moments of euphoria. Some people state observing strange rashes on their skin, hearing ghostly voices through the woodland, or feel hands grabbing them, even when convinced they're by themselves. Study Attempts Despite several of the stories may be impossible to confirm, there are many things before my eyes that is undeniably strange. All around are plants whose stems are warped and gnarled into bizarre configurations. Multiple explanations have been proposed to explain the misshapen plants: that hurricane winds could have shaped the young trees, or typically increased electromagnetic fields in the ground explain their crooked growth. But scientific investigations have found inconclusive results. The Legendary Opening The expert's excursions enable visitors to engage in a small-scale research of their own. Upon reaching the opening in the woods where Barnea photographed his famous UFO pictures, he passes the visitor an EMF meter which detects electromagnetic fields. "We're stepping into the most powerful part of the forest," he says. "Discover what's here." The plants immediately cease as they step into a complete ring. The sole vegetation is the low vegetation beneath the ground; it's obvious that it hasn't been mown, and looks that this unusual opening is natural, not the creation of human hands. Between Reality and Imagination The broader region is a area which stirs the imagination, where the line is blurred between fact and folklore. In countryside villages belief persists in strigoi ("screamers") – supernatural, appearance-altering bloodsuckers, who return from burial sites to terrorise regional populations. The novelist's famous vampire Count Dracula is permanently linked with Transylvania, and Bran Castle – a Saxon monolith located on a stone formation in the mountain range – is heavily promoted as "Dracula's Castle". But even folklore-rich Transylvania – truly, "the place beyond the forest" – seems tangible and comprehensible compared to this spooky forest, which seem to be, for causes nuclear, environmental or entirely legendary, a hub for fantasy projection. "Inside these woods," the guide says, "the division between truth and fantasy is extremely fine."