The world’s longest treasure hunt appears to have come to an end after it was announced in France that a buried statuette of a golden owl has finally been unearthed – after 31 years. “We confirm that the replica of the golden owl was unearthed last night and that a solution was sent at the same time through the online verification system,” said a post published on the search’s official chatline on Thursday morning. “It is therefore now pointless to dig in a place where you suspect the cache.” The message comes from Michel Becker, who illustrated the original Chouette d’Or (Golden Owl) book and sculpted the buried statue in 1993. No further information about the location or the finder was available, and Mr Becker could not be reached by phone. Tens of thousands of people have taken part in the search, which has generated extensive secondary literature in the form of books, brochures and Internet sites.
They have all followed the 11 complicated puzzles described in creator Max Valentin’s first book. When he died in 2009, Mr Becker took over the project.
The intricate clues were supposed to lead to a specific point somewhere in France where a bronze replica of the real golden owl would be found underground. The winner would receive the valuable golden original.
A documentary about the treasure hunt by French TV channel Canal+ earlier this year estimated the owl’s value at €150,000 (Rs 1,38,90,734).
The world of chouetteurs – as the treasure hunters are known in French – was in turmoil on Thursday morning as news of the alleged find spread.
“Finally – freed!” reads one post on the hunt’s chatline on the Discord forum.
“I didn’t think I’d live to see the day,” reads another. And: “It’s like Covid. So good when it’s over.”
“Strangely, I’m relieved. I’m dying to know the solutions now to see if I was on the right track,” commented another user. Some hunters remained sceptical, fearing that the cache might have been discovered with a metal detector. According to the rules, the finder must prove that he solved the puzzles correctly and did not just stumble upon the owl by chance.
The hunt was marked by legal disputes for several years after Mr Valentin’s death, and not all owl hunters accepted that Mr Becker had inherited the central role. Mr Becker himself initially did not know the location of the buried owl. The solution was in a sealed envelope owned by Mr Valentin’s family.
After the legal difficulties were resolved, Mr Becker read the solution and travelled to the site to make sure the owl was still there.
In recent years, he has passed on more clues to the owl community, sparking the interest of a new generation of chouetteurs.
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