A treasure hunt that captivated France for over three decades seems to have come to an end, as the elusive “Golden Owl” prize has reportedly been found. Michel Becker, the guardian of the hunt, announced on a Discord forum that a replica of the Golden Owl was unearthed overnight. The discovery brings closure to a long and complex search, which began in 1993 and involved thousands of treasure hunters deciphering a series of riddles.
Becker, who designed the 10-kilogram gold and silver sculpture adorned with diamonds, urged participants not to continue digging, stating that the organizers are verifying the accuracy of the solution submitted by the finder. The hunt required participants to solve 11 challenging riddles, published in the book On the Trail of the Golden Owl by Regis Hauser, who wrote under the pen name Max Valentin.
The prize, a replica of the Golden Owl, was buried at an undisclosed location in France in 1993. The original treasure, valued at approximately 150,000 euros, could be claimed by whoever found the replica. The search sparked legal battles and financial disputes over the years, especially after Hauser’s death in 2009. Becker fought Hauser’s heirs to gain control of the puzzle’s solution, which was stored on a floppy disk and retrieved in 2021.
Becker replaced the original iron replica, which had rusted over time, with a bronze one after digging it up himself. The hunt appears to have reached its conclusion thanks to Becker’s additional clues and the collective efforts of the treasure-hunting community on Discord.
