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"They call this location a mysterious vortex of Transylvania," explains a tour guide, the air from his lungs producing clouds of vapor in the crisp evening air. "Countless people have gone missing here, it's thought it's an entrance to another dimension." This expert is guiding a traveler on a evening stroll through commonly known as the world's most haunted forest: Hoia-Baciu, a section spanning 640 acres of old-growth local woods on the fringes of the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

Hundreds of Years of Enigma

Stories of strange happenings here extend back centuries – this woodland is titled for a area shepherd who is said to have vanished in the far-off times, together with two hundred animals. But Hoia-Baciu gained worldwide fame in 1968, when a military technician called Emil Barnea photographed what he described as a flying saucer hovering above a round opening in the heart of the forest.

Numerous entered this place and never came out. But don't worry," he continues, turning to his guest with a smile. "Our tours have a perfect safety record."

In the decades since, Hoia-Baciu has brought in yogis, spiritual healers, UFO researchers and ghost hunters from around the globe, curious to experience the mysterious powers reported to reverberate through the forest.

Contemporary Dangers

Although it is among the planet's leading pilgrimage sites for paranormal enthusiasts, the forest is facing danger. The western suburbs of Cluj-Napoca – a contemporary technology center of a population exceeding 400,000, known as the Silicon Valley of eastern Europe – are advancing, and construction companies are advocating for authorization to clear the trees to erect housing complexes.

Except for a limited section housing regionally uncommon Mediterranean oak trees, the forest is without conservation status, but the guide hopes that the initiative he was instrumental in creating – a dedicated preservation group – will help to change that, motivating the local administrators to acknowledge the forest's value as a travel hotspot.

Chilling Events

While branches and fall foliage break and crackle beneath their shoes, the guide tells numerous local legends and claimed ghostly incidents here.

• A popular tale tells of a little girl going missing during a family outing, only to return five years later with no memory of her experience, having not aged a single day, her attire lacking the smallest trace of dust.
• More common reports describe smartphones and photography gear inexplicably shutting down on stepping into the forest.
• Emotional responses range from absolute fear to moments of euphoria.
• Various visitors claim observing unusual marks on their bodies, detecting ghostly voices through the forest, or sense fingers clutching them, although convinced they're by themselves.

Scientific Investigations

Although numerous of the accounts may be impossible to confirm, there are many things visibly present that is certainly unusual. All around are trees whose bases are bent and twisted into bizarre configurations.

Multiple explanations have been proposed to clarify the deformed trees: that hurricane winds could have altered the growth, or inherently elevated radiation levels in the earth account for their crooked growth.

But formal examinations have found inconclusive results.

The Famous Clearing

The guide's excursions allow participants to take part in a small-scale research of their own. As we approach the opening in the trees where Barnea took his well-known UFO photographs, he gives the visitor an electromagnetic field detector which measures electromagnetic fields.

"We're stepping into the most energetic area of the forest," he says. "Discover what's here."

The trees abruptly end as the group enters into a perfect circle. The sole vegetation is the trimmed turf beneath their shoes; it's clear that it's not maintained, and appears that this bizarre meadow is natural, not the work of landscaping.

The Blurred Line

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

Bram Stoker's well-known character Dracula is permanently linked with Transylvania, and Bran Castle – a Saxon monolith located on a cliff edge in the mountain range – is keenly marketed as "the vampire's home".

But including folklore-rich Transylvania – literally, "the place beyond the forest" – seems tangible and comprehensible compared to these eerie woods, which give the impression of being, for factors radioactive, atmospheric or purely mythical, a nexus for creative energy.

"Within this forest," the guide comments, "the boundary between reality and imagination is extremely fine."