GTA 5 easter eggs and secrets

GTA 5 is packed with secrets, and players were still arguing about some of them more than a decade after launch. This guide sticks to what GamesRadar, IGN, PC Gamer and Kotaku have documented. Fan theories are labeled as theories.

The Mount Chiliad mural

Inside the cable car station at the top of Mount Chiliad is a cave painting style mural. PC Gamer describes a glowing eye, a chain of boxes marked with an X, and three larger pictures at the bottom: a UFO, an egg and a man with a jetpack. IGN adds that a message on the platform tells you to come back when your story is complete.

Players have tried to decode it since 2013. Kotaku reported in 2016 that the hunt had turned up new clues but no real answer. In 2017, PC Gamer reported that dataminers had found an egg and coordinates pointing to Fort Zancudo in code added with GTA Online’s Gunrunning update, and IGN later covered a GTA Online supply mission in which you recover an alien egg from a crashed UFO near Zancudo. IGN also treats GTA Online’s Doomsday Heist, which added a facility inside the mountain and jetpacks, as the closest thing to an answer.

Two more recent takes, both reported by GamesRadar:

• Former Rockstar designer Ben Hinchliffe said in a 2024 interview that some easter eggs are added just to tease players and do not lead anywhere.
• YouTuber Gator Keys argued in 2025 that the three symbols simply point players toward 100% completion and the UFOs it reveals. He admits many players reached the same idea back in 2013.

Treat any “solution” as a theory.

UFOs

IGN lists four UFOs in Story Mode:

• Above Mount Chiliad (needs 100%). Stand on the summit at 3:00 in cloudy or rainy weather. PC Gamer describes it as a large, glowing saucer with an FIB logo on the side.
• Above Fort Zancudo (needs 100%). Fly high over the base in a helicopter until it comes into view.
• High above Sandy Shores (needs 100%). Fly as high as you can over the hippie camp with the alien murals.
• On the sea floor (100% not needed). A crashed UFO off the north coast, reachable by submarine.

The Infinity Killer

Clues around Blaine County point to Merle Abrahams, a suspected serial killer known as the Infinity Killer. GamesRadar’s guide traces them:

• Notes in buildings in Sandy Shores include a newspaper story about his death in prison while awaiting trial, and his obsession with the number 8.
• Large white rocks in the Senora Desert carry the number 8 and short, creepy rhymes.
• A wall in the Bolingbroke Penitentiary yard holds a final note and a drawing that maps the area north of Paleto Bay.

Following the trail leads to eight victims, wrapped in plastic underwater around the small islands north of Paleto Bay. There is no reward and you cannot interact with them. Bring scuba gear or a submarine.

The Mount Gordo ghost

On Mount Gordo, between 23:00 and midnight, a ghostly woman appears next to the name JOCK written in blood on the rocks. GamesRadar and IGN both document her, and IGN says she vanishes when you get close. IGN explains the backstory, which sits on an in game website: an article called Blood on the Rocks names her as Jolene Cranley-Evans and suggests her husband, Jock Cranley, pushed her off the cliff.

Peyote plants and Bigfoot

GamesRadar counts 27 peyote plants in Story Mode, and IGN marks them as exclusive to the newer versions. Eating one turns you into an animal, such as a bird, a dog or even a shark.

The deeper secret took players months of digging. Kotaku’s 2016 report explains how dataminers found references to golden peyote plants, one for each day of the week. Each only appears in foggy or snowy weather early in the morning, and as Bigfoot you can find the next one by following a sonar style cue. IGN lists the conditions players identified, which include a 100% save, all 27 regular plants and the Strangers and Freaks mission The Last One. After the seventh plant, a beast appears. Players tracked it by its roar, and Kotaku and IGN say defeating it unlocks the creature in Director Mode. Kotaku notes the weather and timing are so strict that the community relied on cheats to line them up.

The Epsilon Program

After the story mission Father and Son, Michael can join the Epsilon Program, a parody religion, through its in game website. GamesRadar walks through the chain of missions: later steps ask for donations of $500, $5,000 and $10,000, a set of robes costs $25,000, and the final mission needs at least $50,000 in the bank. We will not spoil how it ends, but read the briefing carefully before you commit.

Finishing the missions unlocks the Kifflom trophy. Afterwards, Marnie sends clues to 10 Epsilon tracts, which add lore but give no reward. See our collectibles guide.

A second murder mystery (newer versions)

IGN covers a murder mystery for Michael, added for returning players on the newer versions and available after the mission Repossession. It starts with four messages carved into walls around Los Santos, the first at the Gentry Manor Hotel in West Vinewood. Solving it unlocks extra film filters.

Smaller secrets

• The frozen alien. GamesRadar and IGN both point to an alien trapped under the ice during the Prologue mission. Stray off the route quickly, or the mission fails.
• The sea monster. A giant skeleton lies on the sea floor. GamesRadar calls it a sea beast, and IGN identifies it as a whale skeleton.
• Bigfoot in Predator. During the mission Predator, check the heat signatures in the woods. GamesRadar and IGN say one of them is Bigfoot.

Tips for secret hunters

• Use the phone’s internet: several in game websites hold clues, such as the ghost story above.
• Sleep at a safehouse to pass time, and wait for fog or rain where a secret needs it.
• Make a backup save before eating peyote, as GamesRadar suggests, since each plant can only be used once.

Updated October 27, 2026