🔗 Share this article

"People refer to this location the Bermuda Triangle of Transylvania," explains a tour guide, his exhalation creating wisps of vapor in the cold dusk atmosphere. "Countless people have disappeared here, it's thought there's a gateway to a parallel world." Marius is guiding a guest on a evening stroll through frequently labeled as the globe's spookiest grove: Hoia-Baciu, a square mile of primeval indigenous forest on the outskirts of the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

Hundreds of Years of Enigma

Accounts of unusual events here date back centuries – this woodland is named after a local shepherd who is reportedly went missing in the far-off times, along with 200 of his sheep. But Hoia-Baciu achieved international attention in 1968, when an army specialist called Emil Barnea photographed what he reported as a UFO suspended above a circular clearing in the heart of the forest.

Numerous entered this place and vanished without trace. But don't worry," he adds, facing his guest with a grin. "Our tours have a flawless completion rate."

In the time after, Hoia-Baciu has brought in yoga practitioners, spiritual healers, extraterrestrial investigators and paranormal investigators from around the globe, eager to feel the strange energies said to echo through the forest.

Modern Threats

It may be among the planet's leading hotspots for supernatural fans, the grove is under threat. The western suburbs of Cluj-Napoca – an innovative digital cluster of a population exceeding 400,000, called the Silicon Valley of the region – are expanding, and developers are campaigning for authorization to cut down the woods to build apartment blocks.

Barring a few hectares home to regionally uncommon Mediterranean oak trees, the forest is not officially protected, but the guide believes that the organization he helped establish – a local conservation effort – will contribute to improving the situation, motivating the authorities to acknowledge the forest's importance as a visitor destination.

Eerie Encounters

While branches and autumn leaves break and crackle beneath their footwear, the guide recounts various local legends and reported paranormal happenings here.

• One famous story describes a little girl going missing during a group gathering, only to rematerialise after five years with no memory of the events, having not aged a single day, her clothes lacking the slightest speck of soil.
• More common reports explain cellphones and photography gear unexpectedly failing on entering the woods.
• Feelings range from full-blown dread to moments of euphoria.
• Some people state seeing strange rashes on their skin, perceiving ghostly voices through the forest, or sense hands grabbing them, even when convinced they're by themselves.

Scientific Investigations

Despite several of the tales may be unverifiable, there are many things visibly present that is certainly unusual. Throughout the area are plants whose bases are bent and twisted into fantastical shapes.

Multiple explanations have been given to clarify the deformed trees: powerful storms could have shaped the young trees, or typically increased radiation levels in the earth explain their crooked growth.

But scientific investigations have discovered insufficient proof.

The Famous Clearing

The expert's tours allow guests to engage in a modest investigation of their own. Upon reaching the opening in the forest where Barnea photographed his famous UFO images, he gives the traveler an electromagnetic field detector which registers energy patterns.

"We're stepping into the most powerful area of the forest," he comments. "Try to detect something."

The vegetation immediately cease as the group enters into a perfect circle. The only greenery is the low vegetation beneath our feet; it's clear that it's naturally occurring, and appears that this unusual opening is natural, not the result of human hands.

Fact Versus Fiction

Transylvania generally is a area which inspires creativity, where the division is indistinct between truth and myth. In traditional settlements faith continues in strigoi ("screamers") – otherworldly, appearance-altering creatures, who rise from their graves to frighten regional populations.

The novelist's renowned character Dracula is forever associated with Transylvania, and Bran Castle – a Saxon monolith perched on a cliff edge in the Carpathian Mountains – is heavily promoted as "Dracula's Castle".

But even folklore-rich Transylvania – literally, "the place beyond the forest" – seems real and understandable compared to the haunted grove, which seem to be, for factors radioactive, climatic or entirely legendary, a nexus for fantasy projection.

"Inside these woods," Marius says, "the line between truth and fantasy is remarkably blurred."