In search of the lost Golden Owl. For 31 years, “owlers”, participants in what is today considered one of the longest treasure hunts in the world, moved heaven and earth to find a bronze owl buried somewhere on French territory. . Launched in 1993 by Régis Hauser (who called himself Max Valentin) and Michel Becker, hunting inspired an entire community for years. The winner had to win a version of this owl, this time in precious metal, gold and silver, supposed to be worth €150,000.
According to the organizers, the quest is finally over. “ We confirm that the Golden Owl countermark was unearthed last night, simultaneously with a solution being sent to the online verification system. There is therefore no point in moving to dig on the location you assume to be the cache. As previously announced, we are verifying the validity of the proposed solution”announced this Thursday, October 3, the painter Michel Becker, one of the co-organizers, on the online discussion forum dedicated to the game, on Discord.
Irreducible “owls”
It all began on the night of April 23 to 24, 1993. Régis Hauser buried the bronze owl, somewhere in France. But where? The question obsesses thousands of participants. A book is published in 50,000 copies, a Minitel server is set up.
Hypotheses follow one another, but nothing is done, the owl remains nowhere to be found. Some critics even believe that no “golden owl” is hidden anywhere and that the quest is doomed to failure.
Over time, treasure hunters become fewer and fewer in number, even if diehard “owls” form associations and continue the search. Some critics even believe that no owl is really hidden and that the puzzles lead to nothing concrete
Régis Hauser finally died on the night of April 23 to 24, 2009, sixteen years to the day after burying his treasure. He was the only one who knew its location. All that remains is an envelope containing the solution, in the possession of Régis Hauser’s heirs, in the hope of solving the puzzles and locating the owl.
A quest in the field and in the courts
In June 2014, the “owls” learned that their reward, the gold statuette, was being auctioned by Michel Becker. The latter will explain that he made this decision so as not to leave responsibility for the game to his children. The sale is however canceled since the treasure hunt is still in progress.
The association of “owls” takes Michel Becker to court so that a bailiff can recover the gold statuette until the winner finds the bronze replica. Justice finally recognizes the artist as the owner of the work.
But the legal episodes do not end there. Michel Becker recovers the solutions to the puzzles and restarts the quest by providing new clues. He publishes a new book On the trail of the Golden Owl and launches an exchange space on Discord in 2021. Some early “owlers” accused it of artificially speeding up the game. History seems to have proven them right, since three years after the unveiling of these new clues, the lost owl was finally found, putting an end to three decades of mysteries.
