“I want to understand and know before joining the owl six feet under. At 64, Diego has spent almost half his life looking for a bird 30 cm high. And he continues “tirelessly [sa] quest, waiting for a spark or the click that would unblock everything”. His Grail? The famous golden owl, adorned with precious stones, of which a bronze replica was buried on the night of April 23 to 24, 1993 by a certain Max Valentin, Régis Hauser of his real name. The following May 15, he published, with his illustrator Michel Becker, On the trail of the golden owl, a book of 11 puzzles to solve and link together to find, within one meter, the burial site of the treasure.
This simply “fascinating” treasure hunt, begun at the time when we counted in francs – the owl being estimated at one million – and when the author’s clues were distilled by typing an expensive 3615 on the Minitel, is still ongoing thirty years later. It brings together a changing and protean community of “owls”, sexagenarians like Jean-Claude, 65 and now retired, who continues to try to unravel the mystery “as a family”. But it also attracts young people, like Jorys, 28, who ended up “converting” his uncles to hunting and tries with them to sort out the real and false leads, the fumades of the old or the ideas of neophyte genius.
So how do you recognize an owl these days? Some still have an edition of the “Quid” all horny on a corner of the table. They know what “Ad augusta per angusta” means in Latin. They have more or less eccentric nicknames on the forums, such as Moissonneur, Anthoo or Kaspius. All of them have their Michelin 989 map scribbled on, traversed by lines, itineraries, dotted with circles, and travel to Bourges or Roncesvalles in thought, or to Fontainebleau by car. All know Dabothe small town of Moselle, at the center of a huge quarrel of chapels: there are those who make it the final stage, those who plead the skilful counter-fire and those who don’t care.
“I dug 12 times in my final zone”
The most tenacious keep their shovels in the trunk of their car. Brice, a 36-year-old internet user, is one of the determined optimists. A hunter for less than two years, he thinks he has found the solution “in two months”. “Since then, I have searched and dug 12 times in my final zone,” he says. His “little bit of forest” is located “far enough” from his home and he equips himself with a powerful metal detector. For the moment, no owl, but the thirty-year-old remains “confident” and always manages to embark colleagues, friends, or even his in-laws on his excursions.
Raphaël was drawn into the adventure ten years ago by his wife with encyclopaedic knowledge and specialist in “Madits”, the enigmatic clues sown by Max Valentin until his death in 2009. She masters the intricacies of the game, plays him “devil’s advocate” and they have fun, on the way on the long road of the holidays. “Twice already, we left confidently to dig in a patch of forest more than three hours away. Twice, we had to manage the aftermath, the horrible disillusionment when everything seemed clear, ”he says. Raphaël describes the cycle of the chouetteur well, with these moments of dejection then the return of enthusiasm – when “a new hypothesis comes up” and “again the adrenaline takes over”.
“There are periods of intensive research and others less”, confirms Pierre, not a “daboiste” for a penny, who has been looking for three decades. “It’s a curse!” You never have peace of mind,” corroborates Vincent, addicted to multiple twists. Paul can “forget this hunt for three months or spend a week having insomnia”, even waking up “in the middle of the night to check something on the map”.
Jaded elders and facetious friends
It must be said that the golden owl forges humility. Christophe was 16 when he started in 2001. Today, he mocks his optimism at the time. He took breaks, sometimes “for a few months”. But for two years and the “recovery in hand” of the quest by Michel Becker, the illustrator of the puzzles who in turn distills information on Discord, he got back to it. “One hour a day” minimum. With his own technique: starting from the super-solution to “crack” the game, short-circuiting it by putting it upside down. Vincent, in addition to looking for the owl, is passionate, in sociological study mode, for the profiles of the collectors. “It’s fascinating to follow the evolution of researchers, or to see what some are capable of doing,” he says. Over time, we learn to recognize profiles. Some think they’re clever, while the old ones say to themselves “pff…, it’s already the third puppet this year to come up with a fable of this type”.
To the point that some have become jaded, borderline incredulous. A user assures us that this endless hunt is “just a clever scam”. Another believes that it is insoluble just because it is poorly thought out, “wobbly”, “capillotractée”.
The chouetteurs sometimes tear themselves apart on the forums, and also take each other’s beak by setting up rival associations. Some also work remotely. But it is above all great optimists, of immense patience, who meet in “nice parties” and are past masters in self-mockery. “So, did you find this owl?” “, “It’s bullshit, don’t you think? Thirty years that Diego endures the sarcasm of his friends without flinching. Twenty years that Christophe stores notebooks, paperweights, or even incense holder in the shape of an owl that mischievous relatives offer him. So, we want to believe Moissonneur. He claims that “the owl is on the verge of being discovered”. Thirty years and two fingers, then.