Hundreds of fund hunt fans, with the exception of one, sulked in unison because it was once introduced that France’s well-known fund hunt for a “golden owl” in any case got here to an finish next 31 years.
Previous this generation, professional social media accounts related to the “On the Trail of the Golden Owl” hunt, introduced that the token required to say the magnificent prize was once discovered.
The search, in accordance with a retain of riddles printed by way of creator Régis Hauser and artist Michel Becker in 1993, required contributors to unravel 11 puzzles within the retain and a twelfth mysterious one to resolve the precise location of the token.
“Don’t go digging!” warned a message on a channel at the chat app Discord.
“We confirm that the Golden Owl countermark was unearthed last night,” the message learn, unleashing a current of unhappy and crying emojis. “It’s subsequently needless to progress digging.”
The solutions provided by those who claimed to have unearthed the token were currently being vetted, the message said.
The book garnered a devoted following with over 200,000 players, known as “owlers,” from France and abroad, CNN reported.
In a documentary posted on YouTube, Becker revealed that the valuable prize — an owl made of three kilogrammes of gold and seven kilogrammes of silver adorned with diamond chips — was created and financed by him.
Hauser, the intellectual architect of the riddles who passed away in 2009, initially used the pen name Max Valentin to avoid being sought out by eager treasure hunters.
He and Becker buried a replica of the owl, keeping the precious original in a safe place.
The treasure’s worth is estimated at around $165,000, according to fans. To claim the treasure, the winning player must submit the replica along with the answers to all of the book’s enigmas.
French media outlets also marked the end of the three-decade-long chase, one of the world’s longest unsolved scavenger hunts.
“I’m disillusioned as a result of I believed I used to be similar however on the identical future relieved that it’s preventing,” one player from the south of France reacted to the advance on France Inter radio.
The 30-year-old guy stated he had spent all his weekends looking for the owl over the presen two years, and had from time to time discovered himself digging in the midst of the night time.
