Treasure Hunt Finally Ends 31 Years Later

Treasure hunter finally finds Golden Owl after decades https://t.co/UQDzMLc6KM

— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) October 3, 2024

Back in 1993, a marketing consultant and an artist designed Sur La Trace de La Chouette d’Or, a treasure hunt in France. The target was a sculpted owl, and the prize was another owl sculpted in gold and silver with gems. But no one found the treasure, and the publicity faded away. Only those most dedicated to finding the owl continued to hunt for it. Then last fall, the undiscovered treasure was in the news again as stories about the people working to find the golden owl went viral. We posted it here, if you recall. That must have motivated a lot more people to get involved, because only a few months later later, the owl was found.

The contest was made difficult by a series of clues that had to be solved. If someone had found the owl by happenstance, using a metal detector, for example, the competition would have been rendered moot. Over the years, the Golden Owl hunt has been the subject of movies, books, and forums. Max Valentin, the founder of the contest, died, and the administration of the hunt was passed to artist Michel Becker, who designed the owl but did not know where it was until Valentin's death.

Someone figured out the exact location from the clues in March of this year. Becker took the time to verify the winner and the solution to the clues that was communicated, and on October 3rd announced that a winner has been determined. The owl was dug up yesterday, and people are urged to stop digging. No, we don't yet know who the winner is.  -via Metafilter