🔗 Share this article

"People refer to this location the Bermuda Triangle of Transylvania," remarks an experienced guide, the air from his lungs producing clouds of mist in the cold dusk atmosphere. "So many individuals have gone missing here, some say it's a portal to another dimension." The guide is leading a visitor on a nocturnal tour through commonly known as the globe's spookiest forest: Hoia-Baciu, a section spanning 640 acres of ancient indigenous forest on the edges of the Transylvanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

A Long History of the Unexplained

Reports of bizarre occurrences here extend back a long time – the grove is called after a local shepherd who is reportedly went missing in the far-off times, along with 200 of his sheep. But Hoia-Baciu achieved global recognition in 1968, when a military technician called Emil Barnea captured on film what he described as a UFO hovering above a round opening in the centre of the forest.

Countless ventured inside and failed to return. But no need to fear," he continues, facing his guest with a grin. "Our guided walks have a perfect safety record."

In the decades since, Hoia-Baciu has brought in yogis, spiritual healers, extraterrestrial investigators and paranormal investigators from across the world, eager to feel the unusual forces reported to reverberate through the forest.

Contemporary Dangers

It may be a top global hotspots for lovers of the paranormal, the grove is at risk. The outlying areas of Cluj-Napoca – a contemporary technology center of more than 400,000 people, known as the tech capital of the region – are encroaching, and developers are advocating for approval to cut down the woods to build apartment blocks.

Except for a limited section home to regionally uncommon specific tree species, this woodland is not officially protected, but the guide hopes that the company he helped establish – a local conservation effort – will assist in altering this, encouraging the authorities to appreciate the forest's significance as a visitor destination.

Spooky Experiences

When small sticks and fall foliage break and crackle beneath their boots, Marius tells various traditional stories and claimed supernatural events here.

• A popular tale describes a five-year-old girl disappearing during a family outing, later to reappear half a decade later with no recollection of the events, showing no signs of aging a single day, her garments shy of the slightest speck of soil.
• Regular stories describe smartphones and imaging devices mysteriously turning off on venturing inside.
• Reactions range from absolute fear to states of ecstasy.
• Certain individuals report seeing strange rashes on their arms, hearing unseen murmurs through the forest, or experience hands grabbing them, despite being convinced they're by themselves.

Study Attempts

Despite several of the tales may be impossible to confirm, numerous elements clearly observable that is definitely bizarre. All around are vegetation whose bases are warped and gnarled into bizarre configurations.

Multiple explanations have been given to clarify the misshapen plants: powerful storms could have altered the growth, or typically increased radiation levels in the ground account for their strange formation.

But research studies have found insufficient proof.

The Notorious Meadow

The guide's tours permit guests to engage in a modest investigation of their own. As we approach the opening in the forest where Barnea captured his well-known UFO photographs, he passes the traveler an ghost-hunting device which registers EMF readings.

"We're entering the most energetic part of the forest," he says. "Try to detect something."

The vegetation abruptly end as we emerge into a flawless round. The sole vegetation is the short grass beneath the ground; it's apparent that it's not maintained, and seems that this unusual opening is organic, not the work of landscaping.

Fact Versus Fiction

This part of Romania is a place which fuels fantasy, where the division is unclear between fact and folklore. In countryside villages faith continues in strigoi ("screamers") – supernatural, shapeshifting creatures, who emerge from tombs to terrorise regional populations.

The famous author's well-known vampire Count Dracula is permanently linked with Transylvania, and Bran Castle – a Saxon monolith located on a cliff edge in the Carpathian Mountains – is heavily promoted as "the count's residence".

But including myth-shrouded Transylvania – actually, "the territory after the grove" – appears tangible and comprehensible compared to this spooky forest, which appear to be, for factors related to radiation, environmental or entirely legendary, a hub for fantasy projection.

"Inside these woods," the guide says, "the boundary between fact and fiction is extremely fine."