“The good mass is said. » Ten days after announcing, without further details, the discovery of the Eagle Owl, Michel Becker, current organizer of this treasure hunt, finally spoke on video, on Sunday, October 13. The “owls”, as the participants in this game call themselves, were impatiently awaiting this speech, constantly postponed, in the hope that Michel Becker would reveal the location of the hiding place or even the identity of the person who discovered it.
It was nothing like that. In his ten-minute statement, Michel Becker confirms that “the solution is strictly exact”and emphasizes that“There is no doubt or dispute possible”. But it does not give any indication about the geographical area of the discovery. It also does not provide any information about the identity of the person (“or several people”precise) who managed to unearth the Owl: “They asked me for absolute anonymity, so as not to have to suffer what I myself suffered. » A reference to the hostility that some of the owl community has shown him, especially since he took over the game in 2021. “The Owl is now far from France”duck.
As for the solutions to the puzzles, long awaited by the community, they will only be revealed on the occasion of the 32nd.my Owl’s Birthday, celebrated on April 23 and 24. a deadline “enough so that the solutions, instead of simply being the subject of a book publication, can be brought to the screen”the organizer announces. Before stating that on this occasion, “The new Eagle Owl will fly exactly where the first one was buried”suggesting the launch of a new Owl hunt. The video was received coldly by the community, frustrated by the little information provided and relatively skeptical of the idea of a “Golden Owl 2.”
Eleven enigmas, thirty-one years of research
the game On the trail of the Eagle Owl was founded in 1993 by Régis Hauser, known under the pseudonym Max Valentin. He was then a marketing professional, had buried a bronze owl somewhere in France and had published a book containing eleven riddles, accompanied by illustrations, that were supposed to help uncover the treasure. Whoever unearthed the bronze owl could exchange it for the real treasure, an owl made of gold, silver and diamonds then valued at one million francs (about 150,000 euros). Provided, of course, that you prove that you have successfully solved all the puzzles.
Lasting 31 years, it is the longest treasure hunt of its kind in France. It has experienced numerous ups and downs, starting with the bankruptcy of the publishing house La Chouette d’or in 2004 and the seizure of the treasure. Then, five years later, the death of Régis Hauser, aka Max Valentin, left a community in mourning and many questions about the sustainability of the game.
If Michel Becker, the painter behind the puzzle illustrations and the owl design, was able to get his hands on the treasure, he did not have the solution to the game, given to Max Valentin’s heirs. No one knew then what would have happened if an owl had managed to unearth the bronze bird: could it have received the real reward? The uncertainty ended in 2021, when Michel Becker announced that he had reached an agreement with the heirs of Max Valentin, obtained the solutions to the enigmas and resumed organizing the treasure hunt.
