🔗 Share this article

"People refer to this place the Bermuda Triangle of Transylvania," explains a local guide, his breath producing puffs of vapor in the cold dusk atmosphere. "Countless visitors have gone missing here, some say it's an entrance to another dimension." This expert is guiding a visitor on a night walk through frequently labeled as the globe's spookiest woodland: Hoia-Baciu, a square mile of primeval native woodland on the outskirts of the metropolis of Cluj-Napoca.

Hundreds of Years of Enigma

Reports of unusual events here date back a long time – the forest is named after a local shepherd who is believed to have disappeared in the distant past, together with two hundred animals. But Hoia-Baciu gained international attention in 1968, when a defense worker known as Emil Barnea photographed what he claimed was a unidentified flying object floating above a oval meadow in the centre of the forest.

Countless ventured inside and vanished without trace. But don't worry," he states, turning to his guest with a smile. "Our excursions have a 100% return rate."

In the years that followed, Hoia-Baciu has brought in yogis, traditional medicine people, extraterrestrial investigators and ghost hunters from worldwide, interested in encountering the unusual forces believed to resonate through the forest.

Contemporary Dangers

Despite being one of the world's premier destinations for supernatural fans, the grove is under threat. The outlying areas of Cluj-Napoca – a modern tech hub of a population exceeding 400,000, known as the tech capital of the region – are advancing, and real estate firms are advocating for permission to clear the trees to construct residential buildings.

Barring a limited section housing area-specific specific tree species, the grove is without conservation status, but the guide is confident that the organization he was instrumental in creating – a dedicated preservation group – will contribute to improving the situation, motivating the government officials to recognise the forest's importance as a visitor destination.

Chilling Events

While branches and seasonal debris split and rustle beneath their footwear, Marius describes various local legends and claimed supernatural events here.

• A well-known account recounts a young child disappearing during a family outing, only to reappear half a decade later with no recollection of her experience, without aging a moment, her attire shy of the tiniest bit of dirt.
• More common reports explain mobile phones and imaging devices inexplicably shutting down on venturing inside.
• Feelings include absolute fear to feelings of joy.
• Various visitors state observing strange rashes on their bodies, detecting unseen murmurs through the forest, or sense fingers clutching them, even when sure they are alone.

Scientific Investigations

While many of the accounts may be unverifiable, numerous elements visibly present that is certainly unusual. Throughout the area are plants whose trunks are curved and contorted into unusual forms.

Different theories have been proposed to clarify the abnormal growth: powerful storms could have bent the saplings, or inherently elevated electromagnetic fields in the earth cause their strange formation.

But formal examinations have found no satisfactory evidence.

The Famous Clearing

Marius's excursions allow visitors to engage in a modest investigation of their own. When nearing the clearing in the forest where Barnea took his well-known UFO photographs, he passes his guest an EMF meter which measures electromagnetic fields.

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

The plants abruptly end as they step into a flawless round. The single plant life is the trimmed turf beneath their shoes; it's obvious that it hasn't been mown, and looks that this strange clearing is organic, not the result of landscaping.

Between Reality and Imagination

Transylvania generally is a place which inspires creativity, where the border is unclear between truth and myth. In countryside villages superstition remains in strigoi ("screamers") – undead, appearance-altering vampires, who return from burial sites to frighten local communities.

The novelist's well-known fictional vampire is always connected with Transylvania, and the historic stronghold – an ancient structure situated on a rocky outcrop in the mountain range – is keenly marketed as "the count's residence".

But even legend-filled Transylvania – truly, "the territory after the grove" – seems tangible and comprehensible in contrast to this spooky forest, which give the impression of being, for causes nuclear, climatic or purely mythical, a center for creative energy.

"Inside these woods," Marius says, "the line between truth and fantasy is remarkably blurred."