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"They call this location an enigmatic zone of Transylvania," explains a local guide, his breath forming clouds of mist in the chilly evening air. "So many people have gone missing here, many believe it's a portal to a parallel world." The guide is leading a guest on a evening stroll through what is often described as the globe's spookiest forest: Hoia-Baciu, an area covering one square mile of ancient local woods on the outskirts of the metropolis of Cluj-Napoca.

Hundreds of Years of Enigma

Reports of bizarre occurrences here go back centuries – the forest is titled for a area shepherd who is said to have vanished in the long ago, together with his entire flock. But Hoia-Baciu came to worldwide fame in 1968, when a defense worker known as Emil Barnea photographed what he described as a unidentified flying object suspended above a oval meadow in the heart of the forest.

Countless ventured inside and failed to return. But no need to fear," he adds, addressing the visitor with a grin. "Our tours have a 100% return rate."

In the years that followed, Hoia-Baciu has drawn meditation experts, shamans, extraterrestrial investigators and paranormal investigators from around the globe, eager to feel the mysterious powers believed to resonate through the forest.

Contemporary Dangers

It may be among the planet's leading pilgrimage sites for supernatural fans, the grove is at risk. The western districts of Cluj-Napoca – a contemporary technology center of more than 400,000 people, called the innovation center of eastern Europe – are advancing, and developers are campaigning for authorization to clear the trees to build apartment blocks.

Barring a few hectares housing regionally uncommon specific tree species, this woodland is without conservation status, but the guide hopes that the company he was instrumental in creating – the Hoia-Baciu Project – will help to change that, encouraging the authorities to acknowledge the forest's significance as a visitor destination.

Chilling Events

When small sticks and fall foliage snap and crunch beneath their shoes, the guide tells some of the folk tales and reported ghostly incidents here.

• A well-known account describes a five-year-old girl going missing during a family outing, then to return half a decade later with complete amnesia of the events, without aging a day, her clothes shy of the slightest speck of dust.
• More common reports detail smartphones and photography gear inexplicably shutting down on stepping into the forest.
• Emotional responses include absolute fear to feelings of joy.
• Certain individuals claim observing strange rashes on their arms, perceiving ghostly voices through the woodland, or feel hands grabbing them, despite being certain nobody is nearby.

Scientific Investigations

Although numerous of the stories may be impossible to confirm, there is much before my eyes that is undeniably strange. Everywhere you look are plants whose stems are curved and contorted into fantastical shapes.

Various suggestions have been given to explain the misshapen plants: strong gales could have altered the growth, or typically increased electromagnetic fields in the ground explain their strange formation.

But scientific investigations have discovered insufficient proof.

The Notorious Meadow

The expert's excursions allow visitors to engage in a small-scale research of their own. As we approach the clearing in the forest where Barnea photographed his famous UFO images, he hands his guest an electromagnetic field detector which registers energy patterns.

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

The plants suddenly stop dead as the group enters into a flawless round. The single plant life is the trimmed turf beneath our feet; it's apparent that it's not maintained, and appears that this unusual opening is wild, not the work of landscaping.

Fact Versus Fiction

This part of Romania is a area which inspires creativity, where the line is indistinct between reality and legend. In countryside villages faith continues in strigoi ("screamers") – supernatural, appearance-altering creatures, who rise from their graves to haunt nearby villages.

The novelist's well-known vampire Count Dracula is permanently linked with Transylvania, and the legendary fortress – an ancient structure located on a stone formation in the Transylvanian Alps – is heavily promoted as "Dracula's Castle".

But including myth-shrouded Transylvania – actually, "the land past the woods" – appears real and understandable compared to this spooky forest, which seem to be, for reasons nuclear, climatic or purely mythical, a center for creative energy.

"Within this forest," the guide states, "the division between reality and imagination is extremely fine."