The quest drew thousands of curious participants hoping to solve a series of elaborate riddles.
It all started in 1993 when On the Trail of the Golden Owl was published by author Régis Hauser and artist Michel Becker. Since its publication, treasure hunters have been trying to solve its 11 clues, which would lead to a replica of the golden owl buried somewhere in France.
The riddles were “a combination of fiendish linguistic games, cartographical ciphers, historical allusions and mathematical brainteasers,” The Guardian wrote in 2022. Thousands of players, known as “owlers,” have spent years trying to crack them.
The ornate owl sculpture is made from more than 6 pounds of gold and more than 15 pounds of silver, with diamond chips adorning its face, according to the Associated Press. Owlers estimated that it has a value of about $165,000.
Then, out of the blue, a message on the chat app Discord with tens of thousands of followers, suddenly announced: “A potentially winning solution is being verified. No more solutions may be submitted. Further information will be communicated as soon as possible.” The message unleashed a wave of sad and crying emojis.
A second post came a few hours later: “Do not keep digging! We confirm that the replica of the golden owl was unearthed during the course of last night, and a solution simultaneously submitted.”
The hunt’s rules stipulate that the finder must correctly solve all of the quest’s riddles. As such, there was a chance that someone with a metal detector could have stumbled upon the prize without deciphering the last clue. But no, the treasure hunt that lasted 31 years is finally over.
“I didn’t think I’d live to see the day,” reads a Discord post reacting to the news. “It’s like Covid. So good when it’s over.”