Bucegi Mountains: Strange Happenings, Conspiracies and Folk Legends

The Bucegi Mountains are a wonderful natural attraction in Romania. The peak, Omu, rises 1.5 miles (2505 meters) above the pristine Prahova Valley. Since 1935, the valley has been considered a national park and is included on Romania’s protected areas list. The Bucegi Mountains are a highly-concentrated section of the larger Carpathian Mountain Range, which forms an arc across much of Eastern and Central Europe. However, recently, the Bucegi have become newsworthy not because of their picturesque peaks or abundant wildlife but rather because of fantastical claims of alien occupiers and international conspiracies. These paranormal claims, which first emerged only in 2009, obscure the mysterious true history connected with the mountains.

Bucegi mountains seen from Postavaru summit. (CC BY 2.0)

One of the must-see attractions in the Bucegi National Park is the Romanian Sphinx and the Babele. Perched high up on the Bucegi Plateau, these rock formations were formed by eons of wind and rain. The Sphinx is so called because it resembles the Egyptian Sphinx of Giza and the Babele (which means old women) are shaped like mushrooms. These formations occurred naturally due to erosion. However, some have come to believe that the Sphinx is a signal of an extraterrestrial presence on Earth.