San Andreas is built to be explored for years. Urban legends, movie references, and full hidden storylines are tucked into the open world, and most of them only trigger under very specific conditions — a certain time of day, weather, or completion percentage.
Los Santos' Biggest Mysteries
The Mount Chiliad UFO
Hard
Mount Chiliad, north of the map
The most talked-about mystery in the game. A mural at the summit depicts a UFO, a jetpack, and an egg, along with cryptic text hinting at the conditions for its appearance. At 100% story completion, during rain, at exactly 3:00 AM, a huge glowing object hovers over the peak.
How to Find It
Finish the story and push your completion to 100%.
Wait for rainy weather (a weather cheat works too).
Climb to the top of Mount Chiliad by 3:00 AM in-game time.
Look up: the object appears above the highest point and vanishes at sunrise.
UFOs over Sandy Shores and Fort Zancudo
Medium
Fort Zancudo and the desert
A second object is hidden underwater off the coast of Sandy Shores, and a third hovers directly above the Fort Zancudo military base. Both appear after 100% completion and are easiest to spot from a helicopter.
How to Find It
Reach 100% completion.
Fly a helicopter over Fort Zancudo (keep in mind the base is heavily guarded).
For the underwater object, use a submarine off the Sandy Shores coastline.
The Ghost of Jolene Cranley-Evans
Easy
Mount Gordo, east coast
On the cliffs at Mount Gordo, a woman's silhouette appears every night between 11:00 PM and midnight, and a bloody message reading "JOCK" shows up on a nearby rock. It ties into a murder backstory that players have pieced together from in-game letters and forum posts.
How to Find It
Head to the eastern slope of Mount Gordo.
Wait until 11:00 PM in-game time.
Don't get too close — the ghost disappears if you approach.
Bigfoot and the Strangers and Freaks hunt
Hard
Raton Canyon forest
After completing the "Hunting the Beast" Strangers and Freaks chain, a final hunt unlocks where you can encounter Bigfoot — and in a special mode, even play as him. It's one of the longest side-content chains in the game.
How to Find It
Complete all five hunting missions tied to the beast-hunter near Raton Canyon.
Wait for a foggy night in the forest zone.
Play through the final hunt scene to the end — it unlocks a separate mode.
Underwater secrets and sunken cargo
Medium
The ocean floor around the island
The seabed is scattered with 30 cargo crates, plane wreckage, a sunken submarine, and mysterious structures. Collecting the crates pays out a large sum of money and counts toward 100% completion.
How to Find It
Buy or steal a boat equipped with scuba gear (Dinghy).
Track down crates on the map — they respawn over time.
Watch your oxygen and stay alert for sharks in deeper areas.
The Epsilon Program and Cris Formage
Hard
Various locations across the map
An entire storyline built around a cult: you donate money, wear a special robe, run through the desert, and in return get a unique ending and outfit. One of the strangest and most memorable stories in GTA V.
How to Find It
Find the first Epsilon Program contact as Michael after the main story branch opens up.
Work through the mission chain, including the donations.
The final choice affects your ultimate reward — read the conditions carefully.
The Altruist Camp
Medium
Mount Josiah, north of Chiliad
A cannibal cult accepts "donations" — deliver a random pedestrian to their camp as Trevor and you'll get paid. After the fourth delivery, a bloody final ambush scene unlocks.
How to Find It
Play as Trevor and find a random pedestrian out in the desert.
Load them into your vehicle and drive them to the camp marked with the Altruist icon.
Repeat the delivery a few times to trigger the final event.
The Chiliad mural: jetpack and egg
Easy
Cable car observation deck
A mural on the observation deck's wall depicts a UFO, an egg, and a jetpack. Players spent years searching for the jetpack in GTA V — it eventually surfaced in GTA Online with the Doomsday Heist update, closing the book on one of the series' biggest mysteries.
How to Find It
Ride the cable car up to the top of Mount Chiliad.
Walk around the station building — the mural is on the outer wall.
Compare the symbols to the UFO spawn locations on the map.
The bloody secret of the Cluckin' Bell factory
Medium
Paleto Bay area, poultry factory
Inside the plant there's a hidden room with blood-stained walls and tracks leading to a drain. The location has been linked to a missing-persons storyline and to a factory heist that was later added to Online.
How to Find It
Visit the factory at night, when guards are less of an issue.
Find the entrance near the loading dock.
Make your way deeper into the plant to the room with the bloody trail.
The Infinity Killer
Hard
Sandy Shores and the outskirts of Grand Senora
Eight graves marked with victims' names and an infinity symbol are scattered across the map. By gathering clues from letters found on in-game websites, you can piece together the killer's identity — one of the darkest storylines in GTA V.
How to Find It
Find all eight burial sites across the desert region.
Read the related letters on in-game websites through your character's phone.
Cross-reference the dates and names — they form one complete story.
Hidden and unique vehicles
Easy
Various spots across Los Santos and Blaine County
Rare vehicles are scattered across the map: a race-ready Duke O'Death after a random event, the Kraken submarine on the ocean floor, spacecraft wreckage, and armored versions you can't otherwise buy.
How to Find It
Complete the "Duel" random event on the highway — it rewards the Duke O'Death.
Collect the spacecraft wreckage parts to unlock the Space Docker.
Find the Kraken after completing a series of underwater activities.
Good to Know
Many secrets only unlock at 100% completion
The UFOs and several other events only appear once you've fully finished the game. A 100% checklist is available in our guides section.
You can speed up weather and time of day
The weather-change and time-skip cheats make it much easier to hit the exact conditions you need. You'll find every code on the cheats page.
Small Easter Eggs You Can Easily Miss
A derelict ghost ship off the northern coast, visible only in fog.
A giant whale skeleton on the ocean floor near a sunken plane wreck.
Movie references baked into cinema signage and posters around the city.
A secret room inside Humphrey's lab, reachable only through the story.
A frozen alien corpse under a bridge, accessible right from the start of the game.
Cryptic wall writing in the tunnels tied to the Mount Chiliad mural.
How to Hunt Down GTA 5's Easter Eggs
Los Santos' secrets work almost like a side game of their own: most events only trigger when several conditions line up at once — completion percentage, time of day, weather, and the specific character you're controlling. That's why it makes sense to start easter-egg hunting after you've finished the main story, once every district and character switch is unlocked.
The Conditions That Come Up Most Often
100% story completion — a hard requirement for the Mount Chiliad UFO.
Rain or fog — many of the eerier events are tied directly to weather.
Nighttime between 11 PM and 3 AM — the window for the Mount Gordo ghost.
A specific protagonist — some scenes only trigger for Franklin or only for Michael.
What to Bring Along
A helicopter or plane makes covering the mountains and the military base far faster, a scuba tank is essential for underwater finds near the sunken ship, and your phone's camera comes in handy for the Epsilon Program checklist. Save your game before experimenting — several of these events only fire once.
GTA 5 Secrets: Frequently Asked Questions
Is Bigfoot real in GTA 5?
Yes, he's tied to the Beast hunting missions and the Strangers and Freaks questline. A separate encounter can be found at night in the forests of Paleto Bay.
How do I see the Mount Chiliad UFO?
You need 100% story completion, rainy weather, and a time of roughly 3 AM — the ship appears above the mountain's peak.
Is there a Bermuda Triangle easter egg?
There's no direct reference, but a wrecked plane and a submarine loaded with crates are hidden on the ocean floor, found with a scuba tank.
Do the secrets work in GTA Online?
Most of the mysterious events are single-player only, since the online mode runs on a slightly different version of the map.
