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"People refer to this location a mysterious vortex of Transylvania," states a local guide, the air from his lungs creating clouds of condensation in the crisp evening air. "Numerous visitors have gone missing here, it's thought it's a portal to another dimension." Marius is guiding a traveler on a night walk through commonly known as the planet's most ghostly woodland: Hoia-Baciu, a section spanning 640 acres of ancient local woods on the edges of the metropolis of Cluj-Napoca.

A Long History of the Unexplained

Reports of unusual events here extend back centuries – this woodland is titled for a regional herder who is reportedly went missing in the long ago, accompanied by his entire flock. But Hoia-Baciu gained worldwide fame in 1968, when a military technician called Emil Barnea photographed what he reported as a UFO floating above a oval meadow in the centre of the forest.

Countless ventured inside and vanished without trace. But no need to fear," he adds, turning to his guest with a grin. "Our excursions have a flawless completion rate."

In the decades since, Hoia-Baciu has brought in meditation experts, traditional medicine people, extraterrestrial investigators and ghost hunters from around the globe, curious to experience the mysterious powers believed to resonate through the forest.

Contemporary Dangers

Although it is one of the world's premier destinations for supernatural fans, this woodland is at risk. The western suburbs of Cluj-Napoca – an innovative digital cluster of a population exceeding 400,000, known as the innovation center of eastern Europe – are encroaching, and real estate firms are advocating for approval to remove the forest to build apartment blocks.

Barring a small area containing area-specific oak varieties, the forest is without conservation status, but the guide is confident that the organization he co-founded – a local conservation effort – will assist in altering this, motivating the government officials to acknowledge the forest's significance as a visitor destination.

Spooky Experiences

As twigs and fall foliage break and crackle beneath their boots, Marius describes some of the folk tales and claimed ghostly incidents here.

• A well-known account tells of a young child disappearing during a group gathering, later to rematerialise five years later with complete amnesia of her experience, without aging a single day, her clothes shy of the slightest speck of soil.
• More common reports detail mobile phones and camera equipment inexplicably shutting down on venturing inside.
• Emotional responses range from complete terror to feelings of joy.
• Certain individuals report seeing unusual marks on their bodies, hearing disembodied whispers through the woodland, or sense fingers clutching them, despite being convinced they're by themselves.

Research Efforts

Despite several of the tales may be impossible to confirm, there are many things before my eyes that is certainly unusual. Throughout the area are trees whose stems are curved and contorted into bizarre configurations.

Multiple explanations have been given to explain the deformed trees: strong gales could have bent the saplings, or naturally high radioactivity in the earth explain their strange formation.

But formal examinations have turned up insufficient proof.

The Famous Clearing

The guide's excursions enable participants to take part in a small-scale research of their own. As we approach the clearing in the woods where Barnea photographed his renowned UFO photographs, he passes his guest an EMF meter which measures electromagnetic fields.

"We're venturing into the most energetic part of the forest," he states. "Discover what's here."

The vegetation suddenly stop dead as the group enters into a flawless round. The only greenery is the short grass beneath their shoes; it's apparent that it's not maintained, and seems that this unusual opening is wild, not the result of landscaping.

Fact Versus Fiction

The broader region is a area which fuels fantasy, where the division is unclear between fact and folklore. In traditional settlements faith continues in strigoi ("screamers") – supernatural, form-changing vampires, who rise from their graves to frighten regional populations.

The novelist's famous fictional vampire is permanently linked with Transylvania, and Bran Castle – a medieval building situated on a rocky outcrop in the Carpathian Mountains – is actively advertised as "the count's residence".

But despite folklore-rich Transylvania – literally, "the land past the woods" – appears solid and predictable in contrast to these eerie woods, which give the impression of being, for factors radioactive, atmospheric or purely mythical, a hub for human imaginative power.

"Inside these woods," Marius says, "the division between truth and fantasy is extremely fine."