GTA 5 Easter Eggs: The Wildest Secrets in the Game

By Alfred from GTA Zone · Published May 29, 2026 · 4 min read

Nighttime illustration of the foggy summit of Mount Chiliad in GTA 5: the red cable-car station perched on the ridge, a sea of clouds over the forest below, a full moon and the greenish glow of a hazy flying saucer in the stormy sky — Illustration: GTA Zone

Thirteen years after its release, GTA 5 still holds a reputation all its own: it’s the most thoroughly combed-over sandbox in video game history, and yet the community keeps hunting for secrets. Holographic UFOs, a ghost that haunts a cliff after midnight, a serial killer whose victims you can fish out of the water, and of course the Mount Chiliad mystery: here are the wildest easter eggs hidden in Grand Theft Auto V, what’s real, what’s reproducible, and what’s just legend kept alive by Rockstar.

Why GTA 5 is a hotbed of mysteries

Rockstar North has always loved scattering secrets across its maps, but GTA V pushed the craft to the level of collective obsession. The San Andreas map is enormous, dense, and packed with details that exist purely to intrigue: inscriptions, strange sounds, apparitions tied to the time of day or the weather. Above all, the studio locked some of this content behind 100% completion, a carrot that pushes players to dig through every corner. It’s that mix of a gigantic world and hidden rewards that gave rise to a genuine scene of “myth hunters,” still active today, as we cover in our rundown of why GTA 5 still holds up since 2013.

Nighttime illustration of a ghostly female figure in a white dress, with long black hair, at the edge of a foggy Mount Gordo cliff, a full moon and the lights of a valley far below — The ghost of Jolene Cranley-Evans appears at the edge of the Mount Gordo cliff, between 11 PM and midnight. Illustration: GTA Zone

The wildest secrets in GTA 5

From the most famous to the most disturbing, here are five mysteries that built the game’s legend. Each has its share of documented truth and its share of shadow.

UFOs, ghost, killer: what’s confirmed and what isn’t

Not all these secrets are created equal. Some are content hard-coded into the game, so anyone can reproduce them under the right conditions. Others come down mostly to fan interpretation. Here’s how the legend breaks down.

Secret	How to access it	Status
Mount Gordo ghost	Summit of Mount Gordo, 11 PM to midnight	Real and reproducible
UFOs (x4)	100% completion (except the underwater wreck)	Real and reproducible
Bigfoot and the Beast	100%, The Last One, 27 peyotes, next-gen versions	Real and reproducible
Infinite 8	Clues, then 8 bodies north of Paleto Bay	Real and reproducible
Mount Chiliad mystery	Mural in the cable-car station	No hidden puzzle, per Rockstar

The underwater wreck off Paleto Bay is the only UFO you can see without finishing the story, a valuable detail when you consider that the other three require 100% completion and very strict weather conditions.

Nighttime illustration of a translucent flying saucer hovering above a desert hippie camp with a metal sculpture, green light cast on the sand, a starry purple sky — One of GTA 5's four UFOs hovers above the Sandy Shores hippie camp, visible only after 100% completion. Illustration: GTA Zone

Mount Chiliad: twelve years of theories for nothing?

The Mount Chiliad case is worth pausing on, because it captures the whole spirit of secret hunting in GTA. The mural and its symbols fed thousands of videos, annotated maps, and theories about a hidden jetpack or a portal. YouTuber Gator Keys reignited the topic by claiming to have cracked the case, but the most solid conclusion remains the jaded one from a Rockstar veteran: the mural was reportedly drawn to intrigue, and that’s it. Part of the community still refuses to believe it, and that’s exactly what makes this mystery immortal.

The definitive documentary on the Mount Chiliad mystery, which retraces every lead the community explored. Source: oddheader (YouTube)

What about GTA 6?

This tradition of the hidden secret isn’t going to fade. Mystery hunters are already watching GTA 6, whose Leonida setting promises its own puzzles, UFOs, and apparitions. Rockstar even slipped a ton of details into the second trailer, which we broke down in our analysis of the hidden details in Trailer 2. To measure how far things have come since 2013, also take a look at our GTA 5 vs GTA 6 comparison. One thing is certain: on launch day, the community will tear the map apart from top to bottom.

1
The Mount Chiliad mystery

This is the holy grail for secret hunters. Inside the cable-car station, at the top of the highest mountain in San Andreas, a mural depicts the peak, a flying saucer, a figure in a jetpack, and an egg, all connected by a maze of lines leading to an all-seeing eye. For years, the community read it as the promise of a hidden jetpack. The reality is reportedly more mundane: according to comments from a former Rockstar developer, Ben Hinchliffe, reported in the gaming press, the mural was apparently created 'just to mess with players,' with no puzzle to solve. The jetpack supposedly doesn't point to an object but to the idea of flying very high to spot the UFOs, and the nod to a real jetpack would come later, with the Thruster from the Doomsday Heist in GTA Online.
2
The Mount Gordo ghost

One of the creepiest easter eggs in the game, and perfectly reproducible. Between 11 PM and midnight, near the summit of Mount Gordo, a female figure in a white dress, with long black hair, materializes at the edge of the cliff. On a large flat rock, the word 'JOCK' is written in blood, visible only through a sniper rifle scope or the phone's camera, and it fades if you get close. The lore confirms it through the local newspaper: this is Jolene Cranley-Evans, pushed off the cliff in the 1970s by her husband Jock Cranley, who dreamed at the time of becoming a stuntman in Los Santos against his wife's wishes, and who would go on to become a political figure in the state much later.
3
The UFOs and a state under surveillance

GTA 5 has four UFOs. Three only show up once the game is 100% complete, under strict conditions: above Mount Chiliad at 3 AM during a storm, above Fort Zancudo, and above the 'Beam Me Up' sculpture at the Sandy Shores hippie camp. These are holograms: they don't react to bullets or explosions and vanish if you get too close. The fourth is different: the wreck of a saucer lies at the bottom of the Pacific, off Paleto Bay, and it stays accessible from the start, no completion required, by submarine or in a diving suit. Plenty to keep the rumor of a silent invasion alive.
4
Bigfoot, the golden peyote, and the Beast

The hunt for the Sasquatch has been a recurring thread since San Andreas. In the mission The Last One, a hunter has been tracking Bigfoot 'for nine years,' a nod to the gap between San Andreas (2004) and GTA V (2013). The creature ultimately turns out to be just a guy in a suit. But on the next-gen and PC versions, Rockstar takes it further: once the game hits 100%, The Last One is finished, and all 27 peyote plants are found, golden peyote plants appear, one per day of the week, between 5:30 AM and 8 AM in snowy or foggy weather. Eating them turns the player into an animal; swallowing all seven triggers a hunt that leads to a fight against the Beast, which finally unlocks its skin for Director Mode.
5
The Infinite 8, the serial killer of San Andreas

The darkest secret in the game. Merle Abrahams, nicknamed the Infinity Killer, allegedly murdered eight joggers in 1999, convinced that '8 is just infinity lying on its side.' On rocks in Senora National Park, macabre rhymes evoke his victims and promise a clue. In Bolingbroke prison, an inscription, 'where the water meets the land and where the fire sprang up,' along with a map, points to the islets north of Paleto Bay. That's where, at the bottom of the water, you find the eight bodies wrapped in plastic. There's no reward at the end, just the thrill of having pieced together an investigation Rockstar scattered across the entire state.

FAQ

What are the most famous GTA 5 easter eggs?

The Mount Chiliad mystery, the ghost of Jolene Cranley-Evans on Mount Gordo, the four UFOs visible after 100% completion, Bigfoot and the hunt for the Beast via the golden peyote plants, and the Infinite 8, a serial killer whose eight submerged victims you can track down.

How do you see the UFOs in GTA 5?

Three of the four UFOs only appear once the game is 100% complete, under specific conditions of location, time, and weather (above Mount Chiliad, Fort Zancudo, and Sandy Shores). The fourth, the underwater wreck off Paleto Bay, is accessible with no requirements.

Has the Mount Chiliad mystery been solved?

Not really, not in the way fans hoped. According to comments from a former Rockstar developer reported in the press, the mural was reportedly meant to intrigue without holding any real puzzle. The drawn 'jetpack' mostly points to the idea of flying high to spot the UFOs.

Can you play as Bigfoot in GTA 5?

Yes, on the next-gen and PC versions. After 100% completion, the mission The Last One, and collecting all 27 peyote plants, golden peyote plants appear. Eating them turns the player into an animal, then triggers a hunt that leads to a fight against the Beast.

Is there a serial killer in GTA 5?

Yes, the Infinite 8: Merle Abrahams, who allegedly killed eight men in 1999. Clues scrawled on rocks and in Bolingbroke prison lead to his eight victims, wrapped in plastic at the bottom of the water, north of Paleto Bay.

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