It is the epilogue of a mystery that had lasted for three decades. The riddle of the Golden Owl was probably solved on Thursday October 3. “We confirm that the countermark of the Golden Owl was dug up last night”wrote on the Discord forum dedicated to the treasure hunt the co-creator of the game, Michel Becker. “There is therefore no point in traveling to dig on the location you assume to be the cache. As previously announced, we are checking the validity of the proposed solution”he added.
Michel Becker must communicate on YouTube on Friday to give the first information on this discovery. This announcement puts an end to a quest which has fascinated thousands of “chouetteuses” around the world, and which franceinfo returns to in five questions.
Where does this game come from?
The game On the trail of the Golden Owl was launched in April 1993 by two men: Régis Hauser, who took the pseudonym Max Valentin so as not to be harassed by enthusiasts, and the artist Michel Becker. In 1993, the first buried somewhere in France a bronze replica of an owl sculpture, made by the second and made of gold and silver and studded with rubies and diamonds. Whoever found it would win the original version of the work.
Author of books on marketing, Régis Hauser thought that his enigma would not last more than a few months. It ultimately crossed the ages, moving from Minitel and camcorders, to GPS and smartphones, to end up on platforms such as Discord. Michel Becker came on television to present the game, but without knowing the solution. Régis Hauser was more discreet and always masked.
To help solve this mystery, Régis Hauser published a book containing 11 riddles. Brief texts accompany paintings: these are the only clues available to buyers of this book, originally sold for 95 francs (14.50 euros). The latest edition, in 2022, costs 37.95 euros.
“Once you solve a puzzle, it’s a simple encryption, it gives you a nebulous term, [comme] ‘the becalmed nave’ or ‘the black ship perched’ that you must interpret”, tells franceinfo Laurline Danguy des Déserts, who directed the documentary In pursuit of the Golden Owlavailable on Canal+. To set up his treasure hunt, Régis Hauser “was inspired by a treasure hunt that comes from England, which is called Masquerade and which had immense success”she adds.
Why was this hunt so successful?
Over the decades, the community of “chouetteuses” has grown. In 2010, it had more than 200,000 people worldwide, according to France 3 Grand Est. These gold prospectors became passionate about this cleverly put together mystery. “Régis Hauser’s puzzles were brilliant, superbly written, a work of art in themselves. We will not find this level again… There will perhaps be other hunts, but this one will remain legendary”tells the “nice” Kaspius to France 3.
The death of Régis Hauser in April 2009 could have put an end to the game, especially since Michel Becker then entered into a long legal conflict with the heirs of his sidekick to obtain the envelope containing the solution to the enigma. Undermined by financial difficulties, the artist even tried to sell the sculpture at auction in 2014. Drouot backed down in the face of the mobilization of the treasure hunting community. In 2021, the descendants of Régis Hauser finally allowed him to see the solution, engraved on an old floppy disk.
One night, he checks with a bailiff that the countermark is still where Régis Hauser buried it. He finds a rusty iron bird and replaces it with a new bronze owl.
Where and how was the owl found?
This is one of the questions that remains. The relaunch of the game on the Discord platform and additional clues distilled by Michel Becker have, it seems, allowed an epilogue. Depending on the enigmas, several avenues have been raised over the past three decades. The region of Bourges (Cher), Burgundy, the villages of Chazemais (Allier) or around Saulzais-le-Potier (Cher), located in the very center of the country, Mont-Saint-Michel, the Landes or even near of the Via Podiensis, a pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela, have in turn been considered by the “owls”, lists the site L’Internaute.
One of the most serious trails led to Moselle, the department where Régis Hauser comes from. The countermark would be located at a place called Les Bornes Saint-Martin, near Dabo (Moselle). “The enigma [baptisée] 500 for example, tells us of a spiral with four centers. There are many people who think that this four-centered spiral is in fact the road up to the Rock. of the town, reports Eric, a “nice guy”, to France Bleu Lorraine Nord.
To avoid seeing holes being dug everywhere, Michel Becker ended up creating a solution verification site. Each investigator had to pay 10 euros each time a researcher wanted to submit geographic coordinates, details Release.
Who is the lucky winner?
Here’s the other big outstanding question. For the moment, the mystery is total. Michel Becker should say more in the YouTube video expected by the entire community on Friday. One thing is certain, if the lucky person has found the owl’s reply, they will make thousands of people unhappy. “It’s going to leave a void because it’s several years of my life”Lizzy Brynn, 31, a YouTube videographer and “nice girl” for four years, told AFP. “There is a good page in their lives that will turn”analysis for France 2 Florian Della Gloria, another enthusiast.
On the Discord platform, the dismay has been immense since Thursday morning. “Check that your “nice” friends are doing well morally. There may be drama, which I don’t hope for” ; “It’s the end of an era. It’s a bit like when people cry because a star is dead (…) They see a part of themselves, a fantasized past, disappear”transcribed Release.
How much is it worth today?
When the treasure hunt was created, the value of the owl was estimated at one million francs (around 150,000 euros). The original sculpture made by Michel Becker weighed around ten kilos of precious metals, mainly silver, but also gold, encrusted with diamonds.
In thirty-one years, the price of gold has increased considerably, with an ounce of gold worth nearly 2,600 dollars (2,400 euros) currently, according to the Banque de France, compared to 400 dollars (334 euros) in 1990, according to the Veracash.com site which lists the price of gold and silver. Added to this is the priceless satisfaction of having solved a riddle over which tens of thousands of enthusiasts have struggled.