Sick of waiting for National Treasure 3? Fancy a real-life treasure hunt? Try your hand at these 6 unsolved modern mysteries.
- The Hunt for the Golden Owl
A 27-year old unsolved French mystery involving a buried golden owl statuette, 11 pretty random clues, a tip line that the author himself policed before his own untimely death, and hundreds of frustrated treasure hunters digging empty holes in beautiful French wine regions? This is the World Series of treasure hunts. Sign me up.
To get yourself up-to-speed and join the madness, see here. p.s. helps if you speak French.
2. Nazi Gold in Lake Toplitz
This has it all. I’m talking Nazis on the run — in horse-drawn wagons — burying stolen gold at the bottom of a picture-perfect lake in the Austrian Alps. It’s basically Loch Ness if the monster was literally made of gold. Just go down there and look for it, you say? Well, plot twist. Submerged logs litter the lake floor, making the search pretty deadly. Two divers have died already, and exploration was briefly banned as a result. High risk, but also high reward. Get there first and Tom Cruise might just play you in the film.
Budding divers can find out more here. Maybe James Cameron will lend you his vessel?
3. Forrest Fenn’s Treasure
What would you do if you were diagnosed with terminal cancer and had plenty of disposable gold and jewels? Probably not take a chest-full into the mountains and bury it for others to find. Oh and then bury yourself next to it for good measure. For the sake of this article, thankfully Forrest Fenn did just that, somewhere near Santa Fe, New Mexico. In an ironic twist of fate though, Fenn didn’t actually die(!) and is in fact still around, but five treasure hunters have died scouring the wilderness for his damn treasure. Police are now desperate for him to call off the search.
Oh, and did I mention Fenn himself will unbury the treasure when it reaches a certain value? Clock’s ticking.
Feels like one for fans of Indiana Jones. More info here.
4. Treasure of Lima
It’s 1820 and you’re Viceroy of Lima, a city in revolt. Desperate to smuggle the crown jewels to safety in Mexico, you gamble, piling them onto 11 ships and hoping the captain of the fleet is a man of his word. He is not, and his pirate crew make off with the loot, supposedly burying them on an island off the South American coast. The crew are caught and hanged shortly after, but the treasure is never found.
Definite Pirates of the Caribbean 12 plot-line potential. Find out more here.
5. Copper Scroll Treasure
What if I told you that in a Jordan museum today, there is an ancient scroll that contains a list of 64 locations where an unimaginable haul of gold and silver is buried? Easy, right? One ticket to Amman, please. Not so fast. Since its discovery in 1952, none of the supposed treasure has been found, with many clues deemed indecipherable and pesky Romans believed to have made off with the rest. Maybe your unique mix of endless spare time and an intimate knowledge of back catalogue Simpsons episodes is just what this cold case needs.
Jordanian treasure hunters report for duty here.
6. The Beale Papers
If you love a pamphlet, this is the one for you. First published in 1885, the Beale Papers contain three cipher texts that together unlock the details of hidden treasure said to be valued at a whopping $43m. Only one of the three ciphers, related to the nature of the treasure (in this case, gold, silver and jewels), has been solved. The other two, related to the specific location and the owners of the treasure have yet to be cracked. Word of caution — there’s a fair bit of scepticism out there about this one - could be a hoax - but is $43m worth a look regardless?
Expect less competition if you go after this one. More details here.
Happy hunting! Feel free to throw some back my way if you’re successful…
