On The Trail Of The Golden Owl () is a French armchair treasure hunt book created by communications expert Régis Hauser under the pseudonym "Max Valentin" and illustrated by artist Michel Becker. Launched in 1993, the statue was discovered on October 3, 2024, making it the second longest treasure hunt ever organized (after The Secret). The Chouette d'Or was the longest running treasure hunt with a single prize, while 3 of the Secret's 12 prizes have been found.
A new edition of On The Trail Of The Golden Owl written by Michel Becker was published in December 2019, called The Secret Notebooks (4th edition 2019).
In 2021 Michel Becker became the official organiser of the treasure hunt, obtaining the sealed envelope containing the hunt solution from the family of Régis Hauser. Becker journeyed with a legal bailiff to check that the owl prize was still buried at the location revealed in the solution. He reported that when he dug at the spot he found the bronze owl (a duplicate to be exchanged for the real golden owl) missing and instead found a rusty iron bird, speculated to be a replacement left by Hauser. He replaced this rusty bird with a new bronze owl so that the treasure hunt could continue. Becker published clarified game rules and published a 5th edition of the clue book, On the trail of the Golden Owl – Under the seal of secrecy in August 2022.
Launched in 1993, it ended on October 3, 2024, making it the second longest treasure hunt ever organized, after The Secret. This longevity gives it an "almost mythical aura" among fans of the genre. The solutions were revealed in a documentary screening in French cinemas on May 2, 2025, and confirmed the owl was buried near the Borne Saint-Martin stone circle in the commune of Dabo, in the Moselle department in Grand Est in north-eastern France.
Origins
On The Trail Of The Golden Owl was Max Valentin's first treasure hunt. He came up with the idea for the puzzle in the late 1970s, and spent 450 hours designing eleven textual riddles, which together hold the clues to a final location and a cache, hidden somewhere in France.
Michel Becker created eleven paintings for the book, as well as the final prize, the Golden Owl statuette. The statuette is 10 inches (25 cm) high and 20 inches (50 cm) wide, and weighs 33 lbs (15 kg). It is entirely made of gold and silver, with diamonds on the head. In 1993, the owl was estimated at more than 1 million francs (). A legal protector holds it in Paris. Becker also created a replica made of bronze, which was buried somewhere in France by Hauser on the night of 23 April 1993. The treasure hunt was launched on 15 May 1993.
Valentin designed the hunt to last for a few months and to be solvable by experts or amateurs, insisting that "If all the searchers put all their knowledge together, the owl would be found in....two hours". Valentin also included false trails in the riddles, which he admitted was normal in treasure hunt games, but which he later regretted putting too much work into. He estimated that the hunt would last between four months and a year. Several copies in bronze and iron of the owl were later made.
Valentin later created more than twenty other treasure hunts, all of which have been resolved.
Riddles The book consists of eleven double-page spreads, each of which is a discrete riddle composed of a title, text, and a painting. Each pair of pages is numbered with a wavelength associated with its colours, and with an owl face.
Page number O order B order Title and text Meaning 500 1 7 UT QUEANT LAXISAt 2424-42-424-44-224-24-42-24, take the orthogonal.To find the Spiral with four centers, 560.606 measures, it's far. But by the Mega, it's a million times less.
Applying time signature to the numbers, "reversing" each sequence, and treating the sequence as morse code reveals (C) (A) (R) (I) (G) (N) (A) (N), the word Carignan, a French city. The reference to finding, or drawing, a spiral has not yet been decoded. See also Ut queant laxis The word orthogonal may mean to draw a second line with a given angle after the first line.Ouest France The repeated sequence 60606 in the given measures is the mark of a division from a round number due to unit conversion, the unit being given in a previous riddle. It would be 185 in usual unit.Ouest France Measuring this distance on a Michelin map would give the given village.Ouest France 530 2 2 OPENINGMy 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 to be wise,Because the Truth, in truth, will not be a Devin's affair. The riddle identifies the starting city of the game, Bourges. (B/baby)(OU/où)(R/air)(G/in rage)(E/start and end letter of ETERNITE)(S/SssS) It is the first city provided as starting point.Ouest-France 780 3 3 FIRST STEP...Wherever you want,By the ross and the coachman.But where you have to,By the compass and the foot. This riddle is unsolved. Valentin gave hints, but no answer has been identified. He once described this as the second-most important riddle of the game.This gives the unit of measure: 33 centimeters.Chouette d’or : voici les solutions officielles des 11 énigmes, OUEST-FRANCE 600 4 6 WHEN AL-MAR ALLIES TO PRAENESTE FIBULA, DARKNESS SHINEBDI,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. Al-mar is an ancient word for Arabs, implying numerals, and the Praeneste fibula implies letters - so numbers should unite with letters. If the reader applies the rule A=0 to the letters, he or she gets numbers which can be treated as atomic masses. 138,9.(La) 35,5.(Cl) 253.(Es) 19.(F) 79.(Se) 40,1.(Ca) 12.(C) 4.(He) 32,1.(S) 238,1.(U) 101,7.(Ru) 14.(N) 23.(Na) 51.(V) 126,9.(I) 186,3.(Re) 14.(N) 16.(O) 193,1.(Ir) 31.(P) 167,2.(Er) 12.(C) 4.(He) The symbols for the elements indicated form the sentence "La cléf se cache sur un navire noir perche" meaning "The Key is on the Black Perched Ship". The meaning of this phrase is unknown. Valentin gave clues, including an anagram implying that the illustration means "Becalmed Nave", associated with the "Black Perched Ship". B 5 1 THERE IS NO WORSE BLIND PEOPLE THAN THE ONE THAT DOES NOT WANT TO SEE1 = 530 3 = 470 5 = 600 7 = 420 9 = 650 This is the only riddle that does not have a wavelength as its page number. Applying the colours/marks of the other riddles to a colour wheel and looking for the complementary colour gives the "B order" of the ten wavelength riddles: B-530-780-470-580-600-500-420-560-650-520. If the eleven riddles are resolved in this order, new links appear which may point to the final zone. 420 6 8 FROM THE SKY COMES THE LIGHT(the translated text is encrypted with the original method)365-HI-10752 I-10752 WHERE 365-HE EAGLE90677-RI-60140-365-ED 365-HE687-ARK OF HI-10752 CLAW-10752I-60140 365-HE 10752-ABLE,O-60140-E H-30667-60140-DRED DAY-10752 BEFOREBREAKI-60140-G HI-10752 BEAKA-60140-D LOO-10752-I-60140-G HI-10752FEA-365-HER-10752Then lend a bow to Apollo: from this point, he will count 1969.697 measures towards the zenith.In a fraction of a 46,241,860th of a sidereal day, his line will fall.Hasten to find the arrow. The numbers are planets' revolutions, and the first letters of the planets are the missing elements of the text. The completed text is This is where the eagle printed the mark of his claws in the sable, one hundred days before breaking his beak and losing his feathers, meaning Golfe Juan, the city where Napoleon returned from exile. The second part is still unsolved. The direction of Apollo's arrow is presumed to be important. Valentin corrected some theories from hunters, and clarified the action of Apollo. The repeated sequence 969697 in the given measures is the mark of a division from a round number due to unit conversion, the unit being given in a previous riddle. It would be 650 in usual unit, toward the sky.Ouest France The other number being a distanceOuest France 520 7 11 EARTH OPENSBetween them, there would be only two intervals if they were aligned.But this would be a too easy game! Now that you have undone all the yarns, Doubt is the last torment that will be inflicted to 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 its injury. This may be the last step, using the computed distance and alignment.Chouette d’or : voici les solutions officielles des 11 énigmes, Ouest France This text is relatively straightforward: the treasure-hunter finds something in the zone, and can start to dig. If a hunter understands it correctly, he or she can find the buried owl. 650 8 10 WHEN ALL IS REVEALEDBack to the Ponant, seeks the Sentinels. At 8000 measures from there, they are waiting for you. Find them, you need to review them. (also the picture displays the number ) This text remains cryptic; some treasure-hunters consider the "Sentinels" to refer to one of the last steps, since the treasure-hunters have to "review" them (presumably in the physical final zone).
Some people consider the 8000 distance is the distance to a stone marking since XVIII century an administrative limit between two territories.
Here an implicit operation may be done to obtain an accurate distance. The subtraction should be done between visible number and number of the table, giving a distance in the specific unit.Chouette d’or : voici les solutionsofficielles des 11 énigmes, Ouest France 470 9 4 IT'S THE RIGHT WAY IF THE ARROW TARGETS THE HEARTMy First multiplies by gaiety.My Second offers you space,My Third air, and my Fourth water. When he's lying, my Fifth snores.My Sixth is worth one hundred, and my Seventh is just one node.My Eighth tastes like laurel, While my Ninth, with astonishment, stays behind.My Tenth is always naked when there's a link.My Eleventh, finally, is the unknown.Found my all, and through the opening, you will see the light A simple word game. The solution is another city, Roncevaux. (A/haha)( /space)(R/air)(O/eau)(N/lying ZZz)(C/Latin number)(E/noeud)(V/victory)(A/aah)(U/French grammatical rule)(X/the unknown) It is the second city provided. With the starting point it allows to draw a first line.Ouest-France 560 10 9 AD AUGUSTA PER ANGUSTAWhen at Carusburc, you will have Albion in the back,Seek the opening that reveals the Heavenly Light. Don't linger, don't ask for your rest, But prepare yourself to walk on water. Twice, Neptune will help youAnd carry you away from the icy north.Pursue your road and do not interrupt your journeyBefore seeing, through the Opening, the becalmed Nave.Without deviating an inch, draw a line, And you will not regret what you did.