🔗 Share this article

"Locals dub this place the Bermuda Triangle of Transylvania," remarks an experienced guide, the air from his lungs creating puffs of vapor in the crisp evening air. "Countless people have gone missing here, it's thought it's an entrance to a different realm." The guide is leading a traveler on a nocturnal tour through what is often described as the world's most haunted grove: Hoia-Baciu, a square mile of ancient native woodland on the fringes of the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

Centuries of Mystery

Accounts of strange happenings here extend back centuries – this woodland is titled for a local shepherd who is said to have vanished in the far-off times, along with 200 of his sheep. But Hoia-Baciu gained international attention in 1968, when an army specialist known as Emil Barnea captured on film what he described as a flying saucer hovering above a oval meadow in the middle of the forest.

Countless ventured inside and vanished without trace. But rest assured," he states, turning to the traveler with a smile. "Our excursions have a flawless completion rate."

In the years that followed, Hoia-Baciu has drawn yogis, shamans, UFO researchers and supernatural researchers from worldwide, curious to experience the strange energies believed to resonate through the forest.

Modern Threats

Although it is a top global destinations for supernatural fans, the grove is facing danger. The outlying areas of Cluj-Napoca – an innovative digital cluster of a population exceeding 400,000, known as the tech capital of eastern Europe – are expanding, and developers are pushing for authorization to clear the trees to erect housing complexes.

Except for a few hectares home to regionally uncommon specific tree species, this woodland is lacking legal protection, but Marius hopes that the company he was instrumental in creating – the Hoia-Baciu Project – will assist in altering this, motivating the government officials to recognise the forest's value as a travel hotspot.

Spooky Experiences

While branches and fall foliage break and crackle beneath their footwear, the guide tells various traditional stories and reported supernatural events here.

• A popular tale tells of a five-year-old girl going missing during a group gathering, then to rematerialise five years later with complete amnesia of the events, showing no signs of aging a moment, her garments lacking the slightest speck of dust.
• Frequent accounts detail mobile phones and imaging devices mysteriously turning off on venturing inside.
• Feelings include absolute fear to moments of euphoria.
• Certain individuals claim observing unusual marks on their arms, hearing ghostly voices through the trees, or experience hands grabbing them, even when sure they are alone.

Study Attempts

Although numerous of the tales may be impossible to confirm, there is much before my eyes that is certainly unusual. Everywhere you look are plants whose bases are bent and twisted into unusual forms.

Various suggestions have been suggested to clarify the misshapen plants: strong gales could have altered the growth, or naturally high electromagnetic fields in the soil account for their strange formation.

But scientific investigations have turned up inconclusive results.

The Notorious Meadow

Marius's walks allow visitors to engage in a modest investigation of their own. When nearing the opening in the trees where Barnea photographed his renowned UFO photographs, he gives the traveler an electromagnetic field detector which registers electromagnetic fields.

"We're venturing into the most energetic section of the forest," he states. "See what you can find."

The vegetation suddenly stop dead as the group enters into a complete ring. The sole vegetation is the short grass beneath our feet; it's clear that it's naturally occurring, and appears that this bizarre meadow is organic, not the result of landscaping.

Between Reality and Imagination

Transylvania generally is a location which stirs the imagination, where the division is indistinct between truth and myth. In traditional settlements superstition remains in strigoi ("screamers") – otherworldly, form-changing creatures, who emerge from tombs to frighten regional populations.

The famous author's renowned character Dracula is forever associated with Transylvania, and Bran Castle – a medieval building situated on a cliff edge in the Carpathian Mountains – is keenly marketed as "Dracula's Castle".

But even myth-shrouded Transylvania – actually, "the land past the woods" – feels real and understandable compared to the haunted grove, which appear to be, for reasons related to radiation, environmental or purely mythical, a hub for human imaginative power.

"Inside these woods," the guide states, "the line between reality and imagination is very thin."