Author: Golden Owl Hunter

The NEW Golden Owl hunt!

Posted on | By Golden Owl Hunter

Here’s what we know so far about, ‘On the Trail of the Golden Owl: The Bird of Prey’.

This new treasure hunt was originally planned to launch in autumn 2025, but an announcement on May 19th stated the project is indefinitely delayed.

The announcement from Michel Becker on the official Discord server said:

The incredible story of the Golden Owl is currently facing a turbulent chapter, marked by denial, criticism, unfounded rumours, harassment, and insults circulating in many of your comments. Some individuals have even gone so far as to supply corrosive pseudo-information to the media, which in turn has spread defamatory claims.

Regarding the now-deceased author, such a hateful and absurd conspiracy theory is completely unfounded. It merely reflects the persistent denial of reality by disappointed players—the very same people who, just a few years ago, were calling for the game to be relaunched when we could have simply ended it.

Distressed by this toxic atmosphere, the co-authors, collaborators, partners, and I have decided to postpone the remainder of the game. The Golden Owl will rise again, under different skies, in new hands, driven by more positive passions.

In light of this, the upcoming Book of Solutions will not include the first puzzle shown in the film The Discovery of the Golden Owl. Instead, it will contain additional material allowing readers to reconstruct the path of Max Valentin’s floppy disk. Naturally, this change entitles anyone who wishes to do so to cancel their pre-order and receive a full refund. The new publication date will be announced at a later time.

To the winners—and to all those who have approached this extraordinary saga with perspective and generosity, never forgetting that it is, above all, a game—I extend my heartfelt thanks and congratulations for the moments of wonder and connection we’ve shared.

It is disappointing news, as the new hunt sounded like an exciting venture. It was aimed at an international audience with clue books in both French and English. The prize supposedly had a value of between €250,000 and €300,000.

Michel Becker said, “Golden Owl 2″ would begin “exactly where the first one was buried.” Perhaps Dabo in France?

The clues in the new hunt were designed to lead all over the world. An article in a French paper said the hunt would be designed by Michel Becker, along with, ‘Aurore Beuron, a 28-year-old engineer and treasure hunting enthusiast, and David Pattyn, ‘a computer scientist-developer who has been designing riddles for quite some time.’

It was my understanding that the design would be similar to the first hunt with perhaps 11 or 12 short clue texts and pictures. Becker suggested the hunt could last, “between 3 and 6 years.” He added, “but I could be wrong.” I guess there’s always a possibility of a 31 year long hunt!

The first clue, labelled ‘0’ was shown at the end of the ‘Discovery of the Golden Owl’ film. It has been circulating online, and is copied here. However, this is an early version and not ready to solve yet!

The image appears to show three stones. This echoes the three Borne Saint-Martin stones that were the ‘sentinels’ of the first treasure hunt.

The text says:

Énigme 0
LA MÉTRIQUE MESURE CE QUE TON PIED SAIT SCANDER

La lumière sourd de la chambre du roi

Visibles sous trois angles, tels des oiseaux tournoyant en orbe autour de leur proie,
ces sentinelles sont prêtes à fondre sur elle.

In English, this translates as:

Riddle 0
The meter measures what your foot knows how to scan

The light seeps from the king’s chamber

Visible from three angles, like birds circling in orbit around their prey,
these sentinels are ready to swoop down upon it.

There are numbers in a grid in the background. Do these have some connection to the numbers used in the solution to the first owl hunt?

I very much hope that this project is resumed soon, I’m excited to see how this new hunt plays out.

If you want a notification when this hunt launches add yourself to my mailing list.

The ‘supersolution’ controversy

Posted on | By Golden Owl Hunter

In 2021 when Michel Becker obtained the solution to the Golden Owl hunt he quickly challenged commonly accepted beliefs about this hunt. His most important intervention was disputing the idea of a secret ’12th supersolution clue’.

It was widely accepted among Owlers that Max Valentin had crafted 11 clues to lead searchers to the general location of the owl, with a hidden 12th clue, something like “dig six metres from the statue’s right foot“, used to pinpoint the exact spot. Max said that once the correct location was identified, certain elements would remain leftover from the clues, he called these remnants. He suggested these remnants would help determine exactly where to dig.

Michel Becker challenged that narrative. He advised treasure hunters to disregard Max’s previous comments and suggested there are no remnants, and there is no 12th clue. According to Becker, once you solve the 9th riddle, you have your location. The final two clues (Clues 10 and 11) are not leftovers or summaries—they’re the precise instructions for where to dig.

We have the solution, so now what?

Now that we can read the full PDF of the Golden Owl solution, Becker’s insistence makes sense. There’s no mention of remnants anywhere in this document. So the solution has not gone down well within the Owler community. Many believe that Dabo as a final location is far too simplistic—four clues supposedly point there (overkill?!) Yet nothing was found for 31 years? Most damningly, when Becker dug at Dabo, he didn’t find the bronze owl marked with a number 1. He found a metal duck in a bag.

Becker replaced the rusty duck with a new bronze owl marked with a number 2. This meant the game could carry on as before. Though, of course, there were questions asked! Becker explains that owl 1 was removed by Max during a fraught period in the treasure hunt’s history. The book’s publisher went bankrupt in 2004, and the Golden Owl prize was seized by liquidators. Becker suggests Max removed the bronze owl from its hiding place to avoid being forced to hand over a prize he no longer legally owned. Max died unexpectedly in 2009, so perhaps owl 1 was never returned?

Another theory is that Max’s close collaborator and friend Phil D’Euck (yes, pronounced “duck”) may have taken the owl and left the duck in its place. Like many mysteries in this hunt, we may never know for sure.

So, are the published solutions real? There are many doubters but I think the explanations are right. For all the criticisms these solutions have faced, they do work in ways no previous answer I’ve read ever truly has. Dabo does contain a spiral, three ‘sentinel’ stones at just the right distance, a becalmed nave, a perched ship. Even the notoriously difficult ‘Tour de France’ clues fit.

Are the clues imperfect? Absolutely. They’re disappointingly imperfect. But is the internal logic sound? Yes.

So what about the ‘remnants’ and the supersolution?

Could it be that both Michel Becker and Max Valentin were right, each in their own way?

Let’s try to get inside Max’s head. He never explicitly said when we were supposed to move from the large 989 map, and when we zoom in on a local map to decode the precise dig spot. What we do know is that he wanted all 11 clues in play for identifying the correct region. That’s why so many Owlers spent years drawing lines using the number 71721075 on the 989 map, or treating Mother Nature as a hint towards a region of France, but not a place to land a shovel.

Max said, “Find an area, then work out exactly where to dig,” while deliberately keeping all 11 clues on the table. He didn’t want to make things easy by revealing when we switch from lines on the 989 to ‘supersolution’ mode. Isn’t it part of understanding all 11 clues to know exactly when to look for dig instructions? So I think the text of the last two clues can be seen as ‘supersolution’ by anyone who solves this thing right. I don’t think this is in any way a controversial thought, or that it contradicts anything Max said.

Max said, “When you work out the area, what remains will show you the exact place.” But of course, he couldn’t outright say, “Clues 10 and 11 are your dig instructions.” or “What remains is mostly the last two clues.” That would give the structure of the game away.

So now, years later, some Owlers are saying “there is no supersolution”—but many of them were already using basic elements of the last two clues to decide exactly where they’d dig. There’s some fuzzy logic going on where people now seem to be disputing whether the text of the last two clues can form any part of a supersolution at all.

Michel Becker, recalibrated this hunt, set the difficulty level to “easy” and said solve up to Clue 9 to find the general location, then the final two clues for precise dig instructions. Maybe the simplicity of this approach is part of why this ending feels unsatisfying?

I’ve looked at the Madits on the supersolution point. Max basically said, “The supersolution is composed of remnants from previous enigmas, which can originate from titles, texts, or visuals. Not all enigmas contain remainders; some have multiple, others none..” That leaves some room for interpretation.

Ingredients to dig for an owl

Here’s what you need:

  • Consider the St. Léon Church as the DIRECTION
  • Decode the numbers for the DISTANCE
  • Identify the triangle centre of the three Borne Saint-Martin stones as the POINT TO START TO MEASURE

Remnants that show us the way

Here’s my thoughts on the aspects of all 11 clues that ‘remain’ and might tell us what to do.

  1. DIRECTION from the St Leon church

Back to the Ponant, seek the Sentinels. At 8000 measures from there…

We now know this instruction is nothing to do with the 989 map, we’ve correctly deduced that it must be part of the 12th enigma supersolution. So we work from the church.

The KEY is on the black perched ship.

There’s a key on a coat of arms at the Chapel of Saint-Léon in Dabo.

ETERNITY

Heaven, a church.

Where you want by the nag and the coachman.

A coach route is a prescribed path that’s followed again and again. The final answer involved keeping going along the route you were already told.

Hurry to find the arrow (to become the first to fully solve the hunt.)

The arrow falls at the chapel of Saint Leon.

  1. Decode the numbers for the DISTANCE

As has been commented he instruction to compare the numbers on the Borne Saint-Martin stones to the 71721075 number is just not there. All we have is…

You need to review them

We see this as ‘clue’ but not ‘remnant’, but in Max’s eyes you need to figure out that this is part of the dig instructions, not a clue that teleports you somewhere new on the 989 map.

The image of Durandel

Roland’s sword was never placed in a rock (that was Excalibur) so it’s incongruous. People had regularly noted the link between the shovel of the 650 and this sword. Should a treasure hunter be thinking ‘marks chiselled in rocks?’

Don’t ask for your rest

In French the word ‘reste’ suggests leftovers. This could be a hint to keep only the leftover numbers when you compare the numbers on the rocks to the numbers in the 650 clue.

‘Find my all’

This text in the 530 is, ‘To find my all, just be wise, because the truth, in truth, will not be an oracle’s affair.’ ‘Find my all’ could refer to adding up all the numbers. ‘The truth in truth’ could suggest taking one truth of etched numbers on three rocks, comparing them to another truth, which is the 71721075 numbers in the book.

  1. Find the triangle centre of the 3 Borne Saint-Martin stones as the POINT TO START TO MEASURE.

So what are the remnants suggesting triangle centres?

Between them, there would be only two intervals if they were aligned.But this would be too easy a game! Now that you have undone all the yarns…

We’re being made aware of a triangle formation. We need to use string to find the centre.

‘it is the rule of this cruel game‘

Cruel means acute, it suggests angles.

Alone, you have to find where to land your shovel.

I love this one. This is an instruction that tells us we’re not going to get an instruction! It suggests the ‘supersolution’ is not explicit.

This is only the right path if the arrow aims at the heart.

So place yourself at the heart of the three stones.

Bourges, the centre of France

There’s a hint to centres here.

The image for the 500 clue

There’s a pair of compasses in this clue but they aren’t needed anywhere in the game. This compass tool is often used to find a centre of a triangle. The set square also suggests triangles and isn’t used in the 500 clue. So this is an obvious ‘remnant’.

But by the Mega it is a million times less

The 500 clue references the idea of a ‘million times less’ which means using a map at a smaller scale than the Michelin 989. This might be a hint to look at this clue closely when we get to the supersolution stage. We might then start wondering about that compass and triangle.

So why no mention of ‘remnants’ in the solution we’ve been shown?

The solution, in its simplest form, was described in the floppy disc given to Michel Becker in 2021. Max seems to have kept things brief, unless there is more detail to be revealed by Becker soon. Max died tragically young, he would have expected to be around to write a detailed book explaining the solutions. No doubt, when he came to write up the solution in full then he would have explained all the remnants and the supersolution in detail.

A final thought, was this line a cruel joke?

The title of the very first clue is, ‘THERE IS NONE MORE BLIND THAN THE ONE WHO DOESN’T WANT TO SEE.’ Isn’t this an absolutely perfect summary of a treasure hunt that has the answers, Dabo, Dabo, Dabo, Dabo? We’re looking at something so absolutely obvious that we block it out as impossible. It can’t be Dabo because that would be way too easy. We were blind to something right under all our noses all along. I think this title is the ultimate ‘remnant’ line.

So, thank you Max, you made fools of us all, but I loved this treasure hunt journey all the same!

The Solutions

Posted on | By Golden Owl Hunter

Here’s my summary of the On the Trail of the Golden Owl solution. You can find the full version, as described by Max Valentin, on the Chouette d’Or webpage.

B 

THERE IS NONE MORE BLIND THAN THE ONE WHO DOES NOT WANT TO SEE

1 = 530

3 = 470

5 = 600

7 = 420

9 = 650

 

 

This clue gives the clue order. The method uses the colour wavelength numbers for each of the clues.

530

OPENING

My first, first half of the half of the first age,
Precedes my Second and Third, seeking their way.
My Fourth is inspired, my Fifth is in rage,
But, without protest, follows my Fourth and the roman alpha.
My Sixth is hidden at the limits of ETERNITY.
My Seventh, standing, spits his venom.
To find my all, just be wise,
Because the Truth, in truth, will not be an oracle’s affair.

This clue gives seven letters that spell out the name of the city Bourges.

We mark Bourges on the map.

 

780

FIRST STEP…

Where you want,
By the nag and the coachman.
But where you must,
By the compass and the foot.

 

 

 

 

This clue gives the game measure of 33cm.

 470

IT’S THE RIGHT PATH ONLY WHEN THE ARROW AIMS AT THE HEART

My first by gaiety is multiplying.
My Second offers you space,
My Third is of the air, and my Fourth is of the water.
When he’s lying down, my Fifth snores.
My sixth is worth a hundred, and my seventh is a node.
My eighth has the taste of the laurel,
while my ninth, in astonishment, is dragging.
My tenth is still naked when he has an affair.
My eleventh, finally, is the unknown.

Find my All, and through the Opening you will see the light.

This clue gives the phrase ‘A RONCESVALLES’ and suggests looking to the ‘Opening’ which is Bourges.

We mark Roncesvalles on the map.

580

THE GOOD SENSE IS THE WAY OF THE OPPOSITE WAY, AND INVERSELY

19.9.13.12.15.19.18.21.15.9.19 will be worth 1
12.15.19.18.21.15.9.19.18.9.13.8.15.4 will be worth 2
9.13.16.16.9.13.9.5.18 will be worth 3
25.1.12.14.18.9.13.16.9.13 will be worth 4
8.15.4.1.12.9.19.18.15.1.6 will be worth 5
18.9.13.13.5.18.18.1.12.18.9.13.12.15.19 will be worth 6
20.18.21.15.15.4.9.18.9.13.8 will be worth 7
9.13.18.9.15.19.19.9 will be worth 8
15.4.1.12.14.18.1.12.10 will be worth 9
19.18.9.13.12.15.19.14.1.12 will be worth 0

This clue is ONLY used to decode the text of the next clue. It tripped up many Owlers who marked these towns on their maps and thought they were an important part of an overall solution.

600

WHEN AL-MAR ALLIES WITH PRENESTE’S FIBULA, DARKNESS SHINES

BDI, J. DF, F. CFD. BJ. HJ. EA, B. BC. E. DC, B.
CDI, B. BAB, H. BE.
CD. FB. BCG, J. BIG D. BE. BG. BJD, B. DB. BGH C.
BC. E.

 

 

 

 

 

This clue uses a code devised in the previous clue to decode a phrase. ‘THE KEY IS ON A BLACK PERCHED SHIP.’ This is later revealed to be the Saint Léon church in Dabo, which looks like a ‘perched ship.’ A key appears on the pediment of the church.

500

UT QUEANT LAXIS

At 2424-42-424-44-224-24-42-24, take the orthogonal.
To find the Spiral with four centers,
560,606 measures is far
But by the Mega it is a million times less.

 

 

 

 

 

This clue reveals the town of Carignan. The measure of 560,606 multiplied by 33cm is 185km. We can draw a line from Ronscevalles through Bourges to Carignan, and then taking a right angle from Carignan and measuring 185km we reach Dabo. The spiral is the winding path around the church.

420

FROM THE SKY COMES THE LIGHT

C’E-10752-365 LA Q-30667-E l’AIGLE
I-687-90677-RI-687-A
687-ARQ-30667-E DE 10752-E-10752 10752-ERRE-10752
DA-60140- 10752 LE 10752-ABLE,
CENT 4330-O-30667-R-10752 AVA-60140-365 DE 10752-E
CA-10752-10752-ER LE BEC
E-365 Y-CAP Y LAI-10752-10752-ER 10752-E-10752
90677-L-30667-687-E-10752

So lend a bow to Apollo :
from there, he will count 1969,697 measures towards the zenith.
In a 46,241,860th fraction of sidereal day ,
his line will fall.
Hurry to find the arrow.

This clue decodes to give the town of Golfe Juan, where Apollo fires an arrow 559km towards a 650m zenith.

Most people correctly deduced that the arrow lands at Dabo. This is 559km from Golfe Juan. The famous Rocher de Dabo is topped by the Chapelle Saint Léon whose forecourt is at an altitude of 650m.

560

AD AUGUSTA PER ANGUSTA

When, at Carusburc, you will have Albion in the back,
Look for the Opening that reveals the celestial light.
Do not wait, do not ask for your rest, But get ready to walk on the water.
Twice, Neptune will come to your rescue And lead you away from the icy Septentrion.
Pursue your way and do not interrupt your journey
Before seeing through the opening, the becalmed Nave.
Without deviating an inch, draw a line, and you will not regret what you did.

It seems that from Cherbourg (Carisburc) we draw lines that pass through the sea twice (Neptune helps twice). The method is not explained clearly in the solutions, but based on the line shown to us by Michel Becker, and Max Valentin’s mention of ‘triangulation’ it appears that this line is created by using Golfe Juan as an equilateral triangle. Another line can be drawn at a right angle from Ronsevalles to meet this first line.

This means that we’ve now devised a point in the sea. From this point a line can be drawn, through Bourges, that lands in Dabo. This is a final confirmation that Dabo is the only place we need to find in this game.

Max Valentin always said that that the ‘three clever meetings in the Cantabrian sea’ additional clue was the most important clue to solving the hunt. This method does create 3 lines ‘meeting’ in the sea. However, with so many mentions of Dabo, many people could bypass this clue entirely to reach the location! It’s also the case that this clue is best worked out by retro-fitting the lines, while knowing they must lead to Dabo.

I checked these lines with the famous Tour de France additional clues and they do seem to fit.

650

WHEN ALL IS REVEALED

Back to the Ponant, seek the Sentinels.
At 8000 measures from there, they are waiting for you.
Find them, you need to review them.

 

 

 

 

 

We should now have solved the previous 9 clues and reached Dabo and the Saint Léon church. The mysterious ‘Sentinels’ are 3 standing stones, the Borne Saint-Martin border markers, at 2.64km from the church. We now know that ‘you need to review them’ means comparing the dates on the stones to the number 71721075.

Many people thought the markers were the sentinels but didn’t have the correct method for decoding the numbers.

The idea is that you’re like a general reviewing troops, and walking on a line from the church the numbers that are revealed are:

1747 1750 1828

If we remove 71721075 we get the following numbers left:

4188

The correct methodology is to add the numbers together. 4+1+8+8=21.

21x33cm is 6.93m.

520

EARTH OPENS

Between them, there would be only two intervals if they were aligned.
But this would be too easy a game!
Now that you have undone all the yarns,
Doubt is the last torment that will be inflicted on you.
Because it is the rule of this cruel game:
Alone, you have to find where to land your shovel.
Show your respect for Mother Nature,
And before getting away, close the injury.

The 3 stone markers are in a triangular formation. Owlers often thought the line ‘between them there would be only two intervals if they were aligned’ suggested this triangle pattern. The correct solution involves finding the centre of the triangle and measuring 6.93m towards the Saint Léon church. This was where the owl was found.

According to reports from the ‘Discovery of the Golden Owl’ film the finders used a drone to work out the line towards the church. When the prize was buried it was apparently possible to see the church from the stones, but now trees obscure the view.

Max Valentin’s solution document says, ‘The owl is buried 6.93 metres from the centre of the triangle formed by the rocks of the Borne St Martin, along the same axis that runs through it and the Dabo rock (Moselle).’

I’ve explored some of the controversies around this ending and the ‘supersolution’ HERE.

Read more about the NEW Golden Owl treasure hunt HERE.

The Golden Owl treasure hunt is won after 31 years

Posted on | By Golden Owl Hunter

Michel Becker, the treasure hunt organiser, announced on October 3rd 2024 that the correct solution has been given to him. The longest running treasure hunt in the world* is finally over!

The solution has now been revealed. A new Golden Owl treasure hunt is coming soon, with the first clue revealed in the book of solutions. 

Keep in touch with the news through the official Discord server, Golden Owl social media channels in English on Instagram and Facebook, or subscribe for email updates.

Here’s how it all unfolded…

In a TV interview by Michel Becker on April 18th he revealed that the anonymous finders of the owl are two individuals from two different countries outside France. One of the finders had 20 years of experience, while the other was newer to the hunt. They had no immediate plans to sell the owl. It’s likely we’ll find out more about the winners when the film, ‘The Discovery of the Golden Owl’ hits French cinemas on May 2nd. Of course, this film will also reveal the solution and we’ll finally know where the prize was buried.

Here’s how the owl discovery unfolded.

Becker first announced the win on his Discord server on the morning of 3/10/2024, and said, ‘A potential winning solution is currently being verified. The verification system is currently locked and no longer allows you to submit your solutions. Further information will be communicated to you as soon as possible.’

He followed this up with a second message around two hours later.

Don’t go digging!  We confirm that the Golden Owl countermark was unearthed last night, simultaneously with a solution upload to the online verification system. It is therefore useless to go digging on the location you assume to be the cache. As previously announced, we are verifying the validity of the proposed solution.

The chouettedor.com official website was updated to confirm the owl was found on October 3rd.

On October 8th Michel Becker gave a new update.

Last minute ! I knew it, it’s no surprise, conspiracy theorists, litigants and haters of all stripes are in turmoil and vociferating. The leaders of the A2CO association are trying to accredit the existence of another solution that would lead to the first missing countermark. As usual, everyone is flooding the media with unfounded rumors and unproven assertions. Fortunately, journalists are not being fooled and I thank them for that. We are preparing a complete legal file for them that will prevent them from dwelling on fakes. It is therefore confirmed that the game “On the trail of the golden owl” is now over! The solutions indicate a specific location and only one perfectly defined and from where the countermark numbered 2/8 was extracted. This is without any doubt or possible dispute. It is therefore no longer possible to submit your solutions or to claim to be the winner. All these bad loser ramblings cause us extra work and make us waste precious time. The good news is that the latest information we were waiting for concerning the organization of the end of the game and the means of disseminating the solutions, has just reached us. I will need you very much for this and I will tell you more very soon. Finally, thank you for your countless tags, I do not drink, I do not speak, but I do not sleep either … See you very very soon! Michel BECKER

A document explaining the legal history of the owl was published to help the media. (English translation here) Then on October 11th Michel Becker spoke in a community chat on his Discord server and explained that the winner wanted to remain anonymous.

A video released on October 13th 2024 explained that the answers to the clues would be shared around the 32nd anniversary of the hunt (April 23rd) He also revealed that a private buyer contacted him with an offer of 300,000 euro to buy the gold owl, but the winner declined this offer.

In a Discord vocal on March 13th 2025 Michel Becker revealed that a documentary film explaining the solution would be shown in cinemas around France on May 2nd 2025.  He hoped a broadcast in other countries would follow.

Well done to the finder of the owl, huge congratulations are due.

*Sur La Trace de La Chouette d’Or founded in 1993 is the longest running unsolved treasure hunt with a single prize. The Secret treasure hunt was founded in 1982 but 3 of the 12 prizes have been found.

Submit a solution online to win the Golden Owl

Posted on | By Golden Owl Hunter

A new way to solve the Golden Owl treasure hunt is now available, and it will open up this treasure hunt to players outside France.

This game launched in 1993 when the internet was barely born, and the only way to win the owl was to dig for the prize in a French forest. Now a website has been created at https://chouettedor.com/ and players can enter a solution to be checked by the game organiser, Michel Becker. If the answer is correct the lucky owler will be informed and can travel to France to dig up the bronze owl and exchange it for the golden prize.

Here’s how the new system works.

  1. An account must be created at https://chouettedor.com/ listing your contact details.
  2. A fee of  9.50 euros is paid per solution verification (or 7.50 for AOC members). The solution must be detailed in no more than 1000 characters, listing a postal code for the owl’s location and a ‘super solution’ that describes how it is found.
  3. The solution is time-stamped and encrypted, and sent to be read by Michel Becker. He aims to respond within 24 hours. A ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer is given to inform a treasure hunter if the answer is right.

This is a major change to the game, and Michel Becker says it will stop unnecessary money being spent by owlers checking their solutions by travelling around France. He wants to discourage people from digging holes in the French countryside, sometimes breaching local bylaws. However, the online system is optional, so old school treasure hunters can still choose to check their solution the old fashioned way by taking a shovel and digging for treasure.

Good luck, whichever way you choose to play!

An additional clue regarding the line to draw in the 560 clue

Posted on | By Golden Owl Hunter

On August 29th 2023 Michel Becker released an image clue on his Discord server. Since he took over the organisation of the game and received the solutions in 2021 he has been urged by owlers to draw the lines on the map to verify this aspect of the solution. He finally did this and showed a picture of his map with rulers and a second map underneath.

It was quickly noticed that there was a pencil line drawn on the second partially obscured map.

Becker revealed that this was a line drawn in relation to the 560 clue.

Many people attempted to replicate this line, and it appears to start at Cherbourg and land slightly to the west of Llanes in northern Spain.

It is interesting to note that the angle of this line echoes the image in the 560 illustration.

On its journey across the map the line does not appear to hit any previously mentioned places in the game. Its placing is quite a mystery with no obvious direction leading to a line in this place.

Here is the line’s approximate position.

It is worth reflecting on the line and the text of the 560.

When, at Carusburc (Cherbourg), you will have Albion in the back,
Look for the Opening that reveals the Heavenly Light.
Do not wait, do not ask for your rest, But get ready to walk on the water.
Twice, Neptune will come to your rescue And lead you away from the icy North.
Pursue your way and do not interrupt your journey
Before seeing through the opening, the becalmed Nave.
Without deviating an inch, draw a line, and you will not regret what you did.

Does this mean that the line passes through an ‘Opening’ and the ‘becalmed Nave’? It does fit with the idea of Neptune’s rescue, presuming this means that the God carries us across two seas.

This line is not on any trajectory that has been explored by owlers before so it’s going to lead to a lot of debate.

Becker’s comments on drawing the lines 

Here are a few comments from Becker, in case they offer additional useful information.

“Nothing changed regarding the precision of the end solution.”

“Many wanted me to draw the lines, I did. Some are not decisive, that’s all.”

“I never said one line or another was wrong, and added that I was leaning into never-resolved but non-blocking stuff. I struggled a bit myself with the lines, it’s not what is best explained in the solutions. But rest assured, it works and, for what might not be found, it will not prevent the discovery of the cache.”

It will be interesting to see if this new clue leads to any new theories. It may well disappoint many owlers who feel they have well developed solutions but have no line in this section of the map.

A treasure hunter’s checklist: Facts to point you to the correct solution

Posted on | By Golden Owl Hunter

This is an attempt to put together a checklist of essential elements that we’ve been told must be in place to successfully solve this hunt. Your solution will almost certainly be wrong if you haven’t ticked off all these factors.

Of course, the 11 clues detail many more elements in addition to these things, but these are 12 things that can be checked objectively.

Don’t despair if you don’t yet have answers to all 12 questions, no one does, or if they did the owl would be found!

1.Have you found uses for Bourges, Roncevaux, Carignan, Golfe Juan and Cherbourg?

These five places aren’t named at random, a correct solution must incorporate each place in some way that leads to the owl. This might either be through drawing lines on the map, or the places might give some other information that advances the game. But each place must have a purpose. Many owlers draw a line from A_Ronceveaux, through Bourges to Carignan. The majority also draw a line from Golfe Juan to Dabo. The use for Cherbourg is much less certain.

So what is the overall purpose of all these lines? And if they lead to the owl’s location how do they do point us to it?

It’s debatable whether the 10 towns listed in clue 580 have a role to play in the solution, they may just provide the answer to clue 600. But we do know that the 5 locations scattered among the 11 clues have a role to play, so what is that role?

2. What is the meaning of ‘a key is hidden on the black perched ship’?

Michel Becker has suggested a place must be identified in clue 600. We have very little information about the purpose of the ‘key’ mentioned here, and what exactly is the black perched ship? Dabo fans will point to Saint Leon church perched high on a hill with its ship-like silhouette at dusk. Dabo sceptics will point out this church is not black at all! Most owlers feel a need to pick a side! One thing is certain, the solution to this clue is important to solving the whole hunt.

3. At 185km from Carignan do you find a ‘spiral with four centres’?

The 500 clue suggests taking a right angle from Carignan where at 185km we find a ‘spiral with four centres.’ Many people note that this description can land on Dabo, where a spiral path leads to the church of Saint Leon. But why does the clue mention ‘four centres’? A spiral with four centres may be a mathematical geometric spiral, or perhaps these ‘centres’ may be symbolic.

Some people have attempted to show the Dabo path fits a mathematical definition of a geometric 4 centred spiral… But this is a treasure hunt from 1993. No one solving this hunt in this era would be able to use Google to obtain a picture of the path, nor could they use a Photoshop overlay to demonstrate this is correct.

4. Where does Apollo’s arrow land at 559km from Golfe Juan?

In the 420 clue we are in Golfe Juan, where Apollo fires an arrow 559km towards a 650m high point. Many people think this is a line drawn to Dabo as the distance is right and the famous Rock of Dabo is around 650 metres above sea level. Drawing this line also fits the Tour de France clues (see below.) But where does your arrow land, and what is the purpose of Apollo’s arrow in your solution?

5. What line have you drawn for the 560 clue?

This clue places us in Cherbourg, ‘with England at our back’. We are instructed to look for ‘the Opening’ that reveals ‘heavenly light,’ as well as a ‘becalmed nave’ and we are asked to ‘draw a line.’

The ‘opening’ is Bourges in an earlier clue, there are also references to light earlier in the game. The clue says ‘Without deviating an inch, draw a line, and you will not regret what you did.’ So where exactly is this line placed, and why do we draw it?

6. How is Neptune helping you twice?

In the 560 clue we ‘get ready to walk on the water’ and the text says, ‘twice, Neptune will come to your rescue and lead you away from the icy North.’

Which element of your solution explains Neptune’s ‘help’ as you walk on water? Most people think this means a line will cross the sea or rivers to explain this description. So what’s your water walking answer?!

7. Do you have a becalmed nave found from a starting point at Cherbourg?

The 560 clue places us in Cherbourg and suggests we take ‘a journey’ before ‘seeing through the opening, the becalmed Nave.’ Is it the line mentioned earlier that helps us find the becalmed nave? The word nave suggests both churches and ships, and an additional clue links the becalmed nave to the ‘black perched ship’ clue; many people assume the solution to this clue is, once again, the Saint Leon church in Dabo. What is your nave?

8. Have you found Sentinels at 8000 measures east and at a 45 degree angle from each other?

The 650 clue describes finding ‘Sentinels’ with our back to the ‘Ponant’ (archaic word for West) at 8000 measures or 2.64km. There are various theories about what the Sentinels are, we know they were called ‘Guardians’ in an earlier version of the clue. They are described in an extra clue as, ‘IMMOBILE AND FAITHFUL, TANGIBLE AND MASSIVE, SIMILAR AND DISSIMILAR’ and it’s highly likely there are three. Max also revealed that once we find the first we will see the other two at 22.5 degrees of a line east from the first. So the formation of the three sentinels is at 45 degrees, similar to the picture on the left. How confident are you of your sentinels, and are they lined up as described?

9. How do you use the numbers 71721075, and does your method work equally well with 75 and 57 as the last two digits?

Michel Becker, the organiser of the hunt since 2021, has revealed a few bits of useful information about the mysterious numbers in the 650 clue. We must ‘use’ them or decrypt them rather than decode them. We know that an earlier version of the clues reversed the last two digits. Becker has stated that the 71721057 version of the number will also work for the solution. The use of these numbers is one of the most debated aspects of this hunt. We know the numbers connect to the mysterious sentinels. A successful solution must know how they are used.

10. Do you have ‘three meetings in the Cantabrian sea’?

Max said this is ‘the most important additional clue.‘ The ‘Cantabrian sea’ is an archaic name for the Atlantic Ocean that borders the northern coast of Spain. We need to decide if the meetings are lines, historical events, or something else?

If you have the correct solution you need to understand what these three meetings in the sea mean.

11. Do your lines on the map fit the Tour de France additional clues?

In 1993 Max revealed some important additional clues that tell us exactly where five lines on the map must be drawn.

The line we draw for Apollo’s arrow crosses between Serre-Chevalier and Isola 2000 in the Alps.

A line we draw on the map crosses between Isola 2000 and Marseille.

A line we draw on the map is placed between Orthez and Bordeaux.

If we consider a virtual line of Tour de France riders travelling between Bordeaux and Brétigny-sur-Orge (just outside Paris) we should find that our solution lines will cross this line twice, and that the cyclists pass between these two lines. So that suggests we will need two of our solution lines running West to East across France. The image on the right demonstrates this concept.

 

12. Have you found a super solution leading to an exact spot to dig?

One of the mysteries of this game is why Max, the originator of the hunt, and Michel Becker, the man who has read his solution, differ in the way they describe the end game of the hunt. We know there is some kind of a ‘dig x distance from the x landmark’ instruction hidden in the clues. Max said we must look for and ‘assemble’ several ‘remnants’ of things remaining after the decryption of the 11 clues to find this final instruction. Becker said, ‘The remainders don’t exist, what comes back are notions or thoughts that automatically come back when you need them.’ He stresses that the last two clues mostly make up the super solution. In any case both agree that this hidden instruction is accurate to the centimetre and can be discovered before going to the dig site. You need this solution to find the owl.

Here’s a summary of the checklist of ‘must have’ elements for a correct solution:

General: Have you found uses for Bourges, Roncevaux, Carignan, Golfe Juan and Cherbourg?

Clue 600: What is the key hidden on the ‘black perched ship’?

Clue 500: At 185km from Carignan do you find a ‘spiral with four centres’?

Clue 420: Where does Apollo’s arrow land at 559km from Golfe Juan?

Clue 560: What line have you drawn for the 560 clue?

Clue 560: How is Neptune helping you twice?

Clue 560: Do you have a becalmed nave found from a starting point of Cherbourg?

Clue 650: Have you found Sentinels at 8000 measures east and at a 45 degree angle from each other?

Clue 650: How do you use the numbers 71721075, and does your method work equally well with 75 and 57 as the last two digits?

Additional clue: Do you have ‘three meetings in the Cantabrian sea’?

Additional clue: Do your lines on the map fit the Tour de France additional clues?

Clue 520 and others: Have you found a super solution leading to an exact spot to dig?

 

Michel Becker’s hints, tips and controversies

Posted on | By Golden Owl Hunter

Michel Becker took over the organisation of this treasure hunt in 2021. He decrypted the 1993 floppy disc containing the Golden Owl treasure hunt solution and now knows the answer to where the owl prize is buried.

Max Valentin, the original game organiser, answered thousands of questions about the game on the Minitel, an early form of the internet. The questions and answers became known as ‘Madits.’ (meaning ‘Max told me’.) Now Michel Becker takes a similar role, answering questions on his Discord server. Some people call his statements Beckerdits, or Midits.

Michel Becker has made some bold statements about the game, challenging many of the things that have been accepted as truth for nearly 30 years. I’ll summarise the key points here.

-He insists searchers should not trust Max Valentin’s Madits, as many are misleading, or take hunters off track.

-He suggests that Max’s repeated statements about the way the 12th clue ‘super solution’ is put together should be ignored. He says that the final directions to find the treasure are simply found in the last two clues (650 and 520.)

– He says the first 9 clues have mostly been solved, with answers available online. We can suppose that commonly accepted solutions such as Bourge and the game measure 33cm are correct. But does he mean more cryptic elements are online somewhere too?

– He tells us there is an expression in the clues that gives a kind of ‘eureka moment’, that helps us to unlock the solution. He says that when this expression is understood it helps hunters understand the numbers and the supersolution, and it leads players to do something. He has suggested the expression is a fairly common phrase, “used every day by millions of people” rather than a specialist clue-style phrase such as ‘becalmed nave’.

– In addition there are many small new details that were not revealed by Max. There are no calvary crosses in the game, the opening is not used for the super solution, the 600 clue gives a place, we have the area at the end of the 9th clue, either 75 or 57 will work equally well as the last numbers of the 650 clue, the super solution can only apply in one place, and during the super solution we don’t go back to previous puzzles. And there are no doubt many more.

– He has released his own additional clue, in the form of a poem called Pierrette et le pot-aux-roses. 

There is an excellent site called 71721075.fr collecting many of Becker’s statements and summarising them. If you set your browser to auto-translate it is easy to navigate in English.

Becker claims he read around 5,000 private messages from treasure hunters on Discord and he learned some people have elements of the solution. One or more persons have found a mechanism for the use of the mysterious numbers 71721075 in the 650 clue, and someone who has amusingly become known as ‘the entity’ has the right idea for the supersolution. All this has caused an outcry in the community, with many people angry that the hunt organiser is giving tips to those who sent him messages. However, Becker reassures searchers not to be disheartened. He said this new information only proves the game is ‘solvable’ but the people who wrote to him with ideas didn’t seem to know the significance of what they’d suggested.

To add to the controversy of Michel Becker challenging elements of the game that have been accepted for decades, many people point out that when Becker retrieved the solutions and dug in the treasure location he found a bird made of iron, and not Max’s owl marked 1/8. He placed a new bronze owl marked 2/8 in the spot so the game could go on. There are some people who think Max Valentin’s solutions lead to the original owl and that Becker was duped with false solutions. Could there now be 2 owls buried in France with Max’s super solution leading to owl 1 and Becker’s super solution leading to owl 2? I personally do not believe this, but it’s an interesting theory.

It’s certainly been an eventful time for hunters since Becker became involved. It adds even more complexity to the hunt that now each hunter must decide whether to take a lead from Max’s tips or Becker’s new hints. This is especially the case with the clear divergence in the method of the super solution which reveals the exact burial spot of the owl. A Becker route says the super solution is mostly devised by the final 2 clues, while Max’s instructions repeatedly tell us to assemble ‘remnants’ of the clues and assemble them in order. I like to think both methods might be right, but just use a different emphasis. Possibly Max’s remnant approach relied heavily on the final two clues for the super solution? Or maybe Becker understands a simplified version of the super solution that he thinks works with just two clues? Quite possibly Becker’s  ‘expression’ is a phrase that Max might describe as one of the important ‘remnants’?

All of these extra bits of information must surely mean this this long running hunt will finally get solved in the next few years… Or will it? I’ve a feeling that if Becker’s owl 2 is found, there’ll still be some obsessed hunters who won’t quit until Max’s fabled owl 1 is unearthed. Happy hunting!

Golden Owl Forums

Posted on | By Golden Owl Hunter

I’ve made the difficult decision to close the forum at Golden Owl Hunt. There are a number of reasons for this.

– It was regularly flooded with spam sign-ups, it was a lot of work going through hundreds of junk sign-ups to find the few genuine owlers who wanted to be new members.

– The forum was memory intensive and this has led to a couple of site crashes recently.

– The forum wasn’t much used, and there is now a thriving discussion forum for English speaking owlers on Discord.

If you have any questions about this, want to be put in touch with forum friends, or see old posts get in touch. 

Below are some of the best options for English language discussion about this treasure hunt. To find discussions in French check the community section of this page.

DISCORD

The most popular discussion forum is on Discord. If you’ve not tried Discord before it is very easy to use and works in a browser or as an app. The Discord server is operated by Michel Becker the organiser of the hunt, and although most of the discussion is in French there is an English language section too. Join HERE.

 

 

FACEBOOK

The Golden Owl of France Facebook group is an english language group that is starting to be used a little more recently. It currently has 189 members. Why not join and get the discussion started?

Join the group HERE.

 

 

MYSTERIOUS WRITINGS

The Mysterious Writings forum has a board devoted to the Golden Owl treasure hunt. It has a few active members and some interesting threads. Try the forum  HERE.

 

 

REDDIT

I use Reddit regularly so started a subreddit for the Golden Owl. It hasn’t really got off the ground, but like any community it just needs a few people to get the ball rolling! Try it HERE.

 

 

 

If there are any groups or forums I’ve missed please let me know. If there are enough UK based owlers for a live meet-up, perhaps in a London pub, get in touch and we’ll see if there’s enough people for a get together to talk owler things!

Happy hunting, Jo

 

An additional clue from Michel Becker for the 30th anniversary

Posted on | By Golden Owl Hunter

Michel Becker, the game organiser since 2021, has released a short poem as an additional clue. The clue was released on April 22rd, at the get together at the Musée de la Chouette d’Or in Rochefort, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the owl treasure’s burial.

A translation would be:

Pierrette and the pot-aux-roses

In a place everything begins,

In a point everything ends.

Going from one to the other, clasped between her hands,

Pierrette’s rose, Valentine’s present,

Has sown its petals, like little white pebbles,

While hesitating, measured, rhythmic,

To the end of the road her steps had carried her,

As in another world of which she would be the center,

Diligent and zealous, Pierrette came to understand…

By the Chouette d’Or®, finally, she would be surprised.

It’s interesting to see an additional clue in a very different style to any that Max Valentin would have written, but it’s enigmatic, and doesn’t give too much away. A lot of owlers were worried it would open the hunt up too much and lead to a race to find the owl, but I don’t think that will happen.

A few thoughts…

The pot-aux-roses

English speakers will not be familiar with this phrase. It’s a French expression that means to discover a secret,  ‘découvrir le pot aux roses’ (literally ‘to discover the pot of roses’). The origin of the phrase is thought to be from the Middle Ages, when women would hide letters and gifts from lovers in flowerpots. When these were found, the secret relationship was discovered. Other theories about the origin of the phrase are to do with perfume or make-up, or possibly from the Latin phrase ‘sub rosa’. The title suggests Pierette is sharing her secrets with us, and the poem uses the emblem of rose petals to play with this secrets idea.

Who is Pierette?

Pierette is a girl’s name is of French origin meaning “rock”. So does that mean the treasure is by a rock, or that the sentinels are rocks? It would be a bit obvious if that’s the only reason for the choice of name!

It is a name that is familiar in France due to an old fable about a milk maid who carried a pot of milk on her head. ‘Perrette, sur sa tête ayant un Pot au lai.’  It is unlikely that this has direct bearing on the clue, but the fable gives a warning about watching where you walk. Doesn’t every treasure hunter need to follow the right steps carefully?!

The Rosetta Stone in French has the name is ‘Pierre de Rosette’. Pierre is the boy’s name variant of Pierre and also means stone. Pierrette’s rose is clearly some word play about this. The Rosetta stone was engraved with Egyptian hieroglyphs and also ancient Greek which meant that the hieroglyphs could be translated. This seems like a clear hint to decryption of some sort, is there a secret encryptions of some sort in the clue text? A hidden word spelling out the super solution would make a lot of sense.

In a place everything begins, In a point everything ends.

This beginnings and endings phrase for me echoes the introductory text. The treasure is there for you… or for eternity ! And also the capital spelled ETERNITY in the 530 clue. It also might suggest circles which have no end and no beginning. Though the wording is subtle and should be studied carefully. Where is the place everything begins? Perhaps that is space. Where does everything end? Perhaps heaven or the afterlife. It’s notable that these are concepts already present in the clues. We have a planet theme in the 420 clue and there is a reference to ‘heavenly light’ in the 560.

The falling petals

The phrase ‘Pierette’s petals’ is all about those ‘pot of roses’ mysteries that lead to ‘Valentine’s secret.’ It’s interesting that Becker describes that she has ‘sown its petals, like little white pebbles’ following this with imagery to do with the measuring, steps, a road. To me this suggests the marking of the clue towns on the map, are the secret petals the pebbles making the road? The use of the word white is intriguing and maybe this echoes the light theme used throughout the clues. It reminds me of the Tour de France additional clue. ‘The world champion could peddle fast enough for his jersey to become white.’ That’s two clear hints that the colour white should be understood in forming a solution.

Steps to another world

Another thought this clue inspired was the references to an otherworldly place. There’s, ‘In another world of which she would be the center’ and, ‘a place everything begins’ plus ‘to the end of the road her steps had carried her.’  So is this the place where the owl treasure is hidden, or is it more of a hint to the theme of how the owl is found? Why is Pierette at the centre? Is the road and steps to do with the ‘FIRST STEP’ clue 780?

There are so many things to think about with this new clue, and these are just my initial thoughts. I will add to this page if any new ideas follow. Well done to Michel Becker for releasing a clue that is intriguing and echoes so many themes of the hunt, without giving too much away! It’s going to add some fun to this game to have this new clue to puzzle over.

The original French version is below, in case you want to play with different translations. It is always possible that the subtlety of the text is lost when using Google Translate.

Pierrette et le pot-aux-roses
En un lieu tout commence, En un point tout s’achève.
Allant de l’un à l’autre, serrée entre ses mains, La rose de Pierrette, présent de Valentin, A semé ses pétales, tels petits cailloux blancs, Tandis qu’hésitants, mesurés, cadencés,
Jusqu’au bout du chemin ses pas l’avaient portée, Comme en un autre monde dont elle serait le centre, Diligente et zélée, Pierrette vint à comprendre…
Par la Chouette d’Or®, enfin, elle se ferait surprendre.

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