🔗 Share this article

"They call this location the Bermuda Triangle of Transylvania," states a tour guide, his breath forming clouds of vapor in the crisp dusk atmosphere. "Countless people have vanished here, it's thought it's a portal to a parallel world." Marius is guiding a visitor on a nocturnal tour through commonly known as the world's most haunted woodland: Hoia-Baciu, a section spanning 640 acres of old-growth indigenous forest on the outskirts of the Transylvanian city of Cluj-Napoca.

Hundreds of Years of Enigma

Reports of strange happenings here date back centuries – the forest is titled for a area shepherd who is reportedly went missing in the distant past, along with his entire flock. But Hoia-Baciu achieved global recognition in 1968, when a military technician named Emil Barnea took a picture of what he reported as a unidentified flying object floating above a round opening in the centre of the forest.

Numerous entered this place and failed to return. But don't worry," he adds, turning to his guest with a smile. "Our tours have a 100% return rate."

In the time after, Hoia-Baciu has brought in meditation experts, traditional medicine people, extraterrestrial investigators and ghost hunters from worldwide, curious to experience the strange energies believed to resonate through the forest.

Contemporary Dangers

Although it is a top global pilgrimage sites for paranormal enthusiasts, this woodland is facing danger. The western suburbs of Cluj-Napoca – a contemporary technology center of more than 400,000 people, described as the tech capital of the region – are expanding, and construction companies are campaigning for approval to clear the trees to build apartment blocks.

Aside from a limited section home to locally rare oak varieties, the grove is without conservation status, but Marius hopes that the organization he helped establish – a local conservation effort – will assist in altering this, persuading the government officials to acknowledge the forest's importance as a visitor destination.

Chilling Events

As twigs and seasonal debris break and crackle beneath their shoes, the guide tells various local legends and alleged paranormal happenings here.

• A popular tale tells of a five-year-old girl disappearing during a family outing, only to return after five years with no recollection of the events, showing no signs of aging a moment, her clothes lacking the tiniest bit of soil.
• Regular stories detail mobile phones and photography gear mysteriously turning off on stepping into the forest.
• Emotional responses range from absolute fear to feelings of joy.
• Some people report seeing strange rashes on their bodies, detecting disembodied whispers through the woodland, or sense fingers clutching them, although convinced they're by themselves.

Study Attempts

While many of the stories may be hard to prove, there is much clearly observable that is certainly unusual. Throughout the area are vegetation whose bases are curved and contorted into bizarre configurations.

Multiple explanations have been proposed to clarify the abnormal growth: powerful storms could have altered the growth, or naturally high radiation levels in the ground account for their unusual development.

But formal examinations have turned up insufficient proof.

The Notorious Meadow

The expert's walks enable participants to participate in a little scientific inquiry of their own. As we approach the opening in the trees where Barnea captured his famous UFO pictures, he gives the visitor an EMF meter which detects energy patterns.

"We're entering the most powerful part of the forest," he comments. "Discover what's here."

The trees suddenly stop dead as we emerge into a perfect circle. The only greenery is the low vegetation beneath their shoes; it's obvious that it's not maintained, and seems that this unusual opening is wild, not the work of human hands.

Between Reality and Imagination

Transylvania generally is a location which stirs the imagination, where the division is blurred between fact and folklore. In rural Romanian communities superstition remains in strigoi ("screamers") – otherworldly, appearance-altering creatures, who return from burial sites to haunt regional populations.

The famous author's renowned vampire Count Dracula is permanently linked with Transylvania, and the legendary fortress – a Saxon monolith located on a stone formation in the mountain range – is heavily promoted as "the count's residence".

But even folklore-rich Transylvania – actually, "the place beyond the forest" – feels solid and predictable in contrast to this spooky forest, which give the impression of being, for causes radioactive, climatic or entirely legendary, a center for creative energy.

"In Hoia-Baciu," the guide states, "the division between truth and fantasy is remarkably blurred."