31-year treasure hunt for €150,000 golden owl in France is resolved
Second-longest treasure hunt in world ends after statue unearthed in France
The hunt ended after someone unearthed a replica of the owl, buried in the same location as the original statue
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France’s longest-running and largest treasure hunt has ended after a competitor found a buried golden owl statue that was hidden 31 years ago.
Libération estimates that up to 200,000 people worldwide had searched for the owl before it was discovered yesterday (October 3), as online messages from the game’s runners confirmed the owl has been successfully located.
The winner, who has not yet been named, will get to keep the golden owl statue, which was estimated at around 1m francs in 1993 (€150,000 in today’s money), as well as the prestigious title of being the person to finally end the hunt.
The exact location of where the owl was buried has not yet been disclosed, but many believe it was in the Alsace-Lorraine area of France, where the game's creator lived.
It was the second-longest treasure hunt in the world, only surpassed by ‘The Secret’ in North America, which began in 1982 and is still ongoing.
Read more: Couple find €400,000 on a walk in southern France - they can keep half
What was the golden owl treasure hunt?
The hunt for the ‘Chouette d’Or’ was set up in 1993 by Frenchman Régis Hauser under the pseudonym ‘Max Valentin’.
He devised a myriad of clues and riddles to help people find the owl, which was buried somewhere in France.
He believed that it would take between six months and four years for competitors to find the statue, but that by working together a group could unearth it sooner.
Despite Mr Hauser saying people had collectively cracked about 95% of the riddles within the first few years of the game, they struggled to unlock the final few clues.
You can find some example clues on the hunt’s WIkipedia page (in English).
Mr Hauser passed away in 2009, but the game continued.
The artist who illustrated the book that went along with the hunt then took over the game, but replaced the buried golden owl with a bronze replica (in the same location), to protect the real golden owl from damage.
This meant the person who unearthed the bronze owl had to submit an online verification using the information found on the statue, to confirm they had successfully completed the hunt.
A message confirming the verification process was underway and asking all other hunters to stop searching for the treasure was relayed on Thursday (October 3) morning.
Read more: Mystery of the box filled with jewels found near Chamonix
