🔗 Share this article

"They call this place the Bermuda Triangle of Transylvania," remarks a local guide, his exhalation forming wisps of vapor in the cold evening air. "Numerous people have vanished here, some say there's a gateway to a parallel world." Marius is leading a visitor on a nocturnal tour through what is often described as the globe's spookiest forest: Hoia-Baciu, a square mile of old-growth native woodland on the outskirts of the metropolis of Cluj-Napoca.

Centuries of Mystery

Reports of strange happenings here extend back a long time – the forest is named after a area shepherd who is believed to have disappeared in the distant past, accompanied by 200 of his sheep. But Hoia-Baciu came to worldwide fame in 1968, when a military technician known as Emil Barnea captured on film what he claimed was a flying saucer hovering above a round opening in the centre of the forest.

Numerous entered this place and vanished without trace. But don't worry," he states, addressing the traveler with a smile. "Our excursions have a 100% return rate."

In the years that followed, Hoia-Baciu has attracted yoga practitioners, traditional medicine people, UFO researchers and ghost hunters from worldwide, curious to experience the strange energies believed to resonate through the forest.

Modern Threats

Despite being a top global pilgrimage sites for paranormal enthusiasts, the grove is facing danger. The western districts of Cluj-Napoca – a contemporary technology center of more than 400,000 people, called the innovation center of Eastern Europe – are expanding, and construction companies are pushing for permission to remove the forest to build apartment blocks.

Barring a limited section housing area-specific oak varieties, the forest is lacking legal protection, but the guide is confident that the initiative he co-founded – a dedicated preservation group – will assist in altering this, persuading the government officials to appreciate the forest's value as a travel hotspot.

Chilling Events

While branches and seasonal debris break and crackle beneath their boots, the guide describes some of the traditional stories and claimed paranormal happenings here.

• One famous story describes a little girl vanishing during a group gathering, then to return five years later with complete amnesia of her experience, showing no signs of aging a moment, her garments without the slightest speck of dust.
• Frequent accounts detail smartphones and photography gear mysteriously turning off on venturing inside.
• Feelings range from complete terror to feelings of joy.
• Certain individuals state seeing bizarre skin irritations on their skin, detecting unseen murmurs through the forest, or sense palms pushing them, even when sure they are alone.

Study Attempts

Despite several of the stories may be impossible to confirm, there are many things visibly present that is definitely bizarre. Throughout the area are vegetation whose bases are warped and gnarled into bizarre configurations.

Different theories have been suggested to account for the abnormal growth: that hurricane winds could have shaped the young trees, or inherently elevated radioactivity in the ground explain their crooked growth.

But research studies have turned up inconclusive results.

The Notorious Meadow

Marius's tours allow participants to engage in a small-scale research of their own. When nearing the clearing in the woods where Barnea captured his well-known UFO images, he gives the visitor an electromagnetic field detector which registers EMF readings.

"We're venturing into the most active part of the forest," he comments. "Try to detect something."

The plants immediately cease as we emerge into a flawless round. The only greenery is the low vegetation beneath our feet; it's obvious that it's not maintained, and seems that this bizarre meadow is organic, not the result of landscaping.

The Blurred Line

This part of Romania is a place which inspires creativity, where the line is indistinct between truth and myth. In traditional settlements faith continues in strigoi ("screamers") – undead, form-changing vampires, who rise from their graves to frighten nearby villages.

The famous author's famous character Dracula is permanently linked with Transylvania, and Bran Castle – a medieval building located on a stone formation in the Carpathian Mountains – is actively advertised as "the vampire's home".

But even legend-filled Transylvania – actually, "the land past the woods" – feels solid and predictable versus these eerie woods, which give the impression of being, for reasons radioactive, climatic or simply folkloric, a hub for creative energy.

"Within this forest," the guide comments, "the division between truth and fantasy is extremely fine."