Hidden Easter Eggs in GTA V: A Complete Guide

Are you familiar with the easter eggs of GTA VIn Los Santos, there's no corner without a wink, a reference, or a secret. UFOs that only appear during storms From ghosts and graffiti with hidden messages to homages to movies and other games, Rockstar's sandbox is a festival of details designed for the curious.

This guide brings together in one place all those findings discussed by the community and the specialized press: the Lost hatch, the alien from the prologue, Thelma and LouiseGrove Street, just like in San Andreas; Bigfoot; the Playboy Mansion; eggs linked to Red Dead, Max Payne, Drive, James Bond, and much more. All organized by theme, with locations, conditions, and clues so you don't miss a thing.

Aliens, UFOs and the mystery of Mount Chiliad

The extraterrestrial plot of GTA V starts off strong: during the prologue, if you detour along the frozen Ludendorff River and approach the bridge, you'll see a creature under the ice. frozen alien staring at youNote: If you take too long, the mission will fail, so take a quick look and move on.

That's not the only nod to otherworldly visitors. At the Mount Chiliad cable car station, there's an enigmatic mural, featuring a An "Illuminati" eye, a UFO, a broken egg, and a man with a jetpack.The community has interpreted it as a map of conditions: night, storm, and 100% intensity to activate certain phenomena. The mural also connects with the famous phrase engraved on the lookout point: “Come here when your story is complete.”

Upon reaching 100% completion and fulfilling the conditions, several UFOs appear. One hovers over Mount Chiliad during a thunderstorm; another can be seen in Sandy Shores with the initials FIB clearly paintedAnd the most dangerous one hovers over Fort Zancudo: if you approach it by plane or helicopter, it causes a systems blackout, and if you go by parachute... It repels you violently.

There is also a crashed UFO under the sea, to the north of the map, which you will only see by diving calmly. And on the east coastIn addition to marine life, you'll come across another piece of the alien puzzle: a mysterious underwater hatch that we'll talk about below.

• Mount Chiliad: UFO visible at 3:00 AM and with a storm, after 100%.
• Sandy Shores: saucer with the initials “FIB”, defensive behavior.
• Fort Zancudo: UFO that causes blackouts in aircraft and ejects paratroopers.
• North Ocean: Crashed ship colonized by marine life.

More alien nods: Michael hallucinates about extraterrestrials in "Green Movement" and "Did Someone Say Yoga?", and at Richards Majestic Studios you'll see extras dressed as aliens filming scenesThere's even a cryptic reference via telephone: the number 555-0164 connects with a beep reminiscent of Smallville (episode “Cold”), where a boy is trapped under the ice in a pose similar to the alien in the prologue.

The Lost hatch underwater

The famous hatch from the TV series Lost also has its echo in the Pacific Ocean of San Andreas. Diving with a submarine off the east coast, near San Chianski Mountain RangeA metal trapdoor appears, emitting coded taps. If you translate the Tap Code, the message winks at a very familiar voice: “Hey, you never call, how d'you fancy going bowling.” Yes, it sounds like Roman Bellic, and the irony of the game is undeniable.

Getting too close to the other hatch—the one on the seabed further north— The instrumentation makes you very nervousThere's no black smoke, but the atmosphere is unsettling. And, by the way, if you try to get too close to a certain hatch, even with invulnerability, it will lead to an abrupt end: the "mystery" kills you without mercy.

Thelma and Louise at sunset

Every day around 19:00 PM, a random event recreates the climax of Thelma and Louise. Near Sandy Shores Airfield (also referred to as the cliff of Trevor's HelipadTwo women in a convertible, cornered by the police, choose to take flight rather than surrender. It's a brief and precise tribute: try to be there. before 20:00 so as not to lose it.

Bigfoot, the hunter and the golden peyote

The legendary Bigfoot makes a fleeting appearance in "Predator": with the thermal scope, in the lower right part of the forest, you'll see a heat signature that disappears immediatelyEarlier, in the side mission "The Last One," you chase a supposed Sasquatch that turns out to be just a disguise. If you also collect certain golden peyote plants, some players claim to have encountered the creature again under very specific conditions.

The saga laughs at itself with the "Sasquatch hunter" that is reminiscent of the model used in Red Dead Redemption: Undead NightmareRockstar confirmed that they recycled the model for the NPC in GTA V, another one of those inside jokes from the studio.

The Ghost of Jolene Cranley-Evans

If you climb Mount Gordo between 11:00 PM and midnight, you will see the appearance of Jolene Cranley-Evans floating on topIf you approach, it vanishes, leaving behind the word "Jock" written in blood on the ground, pointing to its presumed killer. It's one of the most talked-about and photogenic paranormal events in the game.

The Snowman and the Big Orange

In the La Mesa neighborhood, the open door of a warehouse reveals a giant snowmanThere's no official explanation: it's purely a provocation to get the community speculating. The boxes surrounding it are destructible, in case your curiosity (and chaos) gets the better of you.

And in Vinewood Hills, as well as at the exit from Sandy Shores towards Grapeseed, there's a juice shop crowned by a giant orangeIf you push or shoot it, it falls over and rolls downhill, taking out anything in its path. A simple but very enjoyable physical gag.

The Dead Island poster

Walking around Los Santos you'll see ads for the idyllic "Rehab Island". It's a cross with Dead Island. It looks like a beach paradiseBut, as you know, the zombie apocalypse awaits there. Small crossover, big smile.

Graffiti 1807 and the shadow of Charles Manson

In Vinewood Hills there is a wall with the number 1807 and an arrowThe popular interpretation: 18 for the women who lived with Manson in the "family," and 07 for the murders attributed to him. The community has been searching for an NPC identical to Manson for years; for now, only the cryptic hint remains.

Playboy Mansion in Richman

In the hills west of the golf course and near West Eclipse Boulevard, a residence inspired by the Playboy Mansion Hugh Hefner's: swimming pool, old millionaires, girls… and a very strange detail. If you sneak in at night and return in the morning, some guests disappear without explanationAnother X-File from Los Santos.

Niko Bellic, Liberty City and other bridges with GTA IV

There's a poster with Niko's face on it Señora RoadAnd Jimmy, Michael's son, is sometimes looking at Niko's profile on LifeInvader (with Roman among his friends). In some cars you'll see the GPS with the map of Liberty CityAnd in workshops or alleyways, a bumper with the license plate "LC" appears, pure fan service.

Remember the heart inside the Statue of Liberty in GTA IV? It reappears in GTA V, but as a movie prop: if you go to the cinema to see "Capolavoro," you'll see the Giant heart of Liberty City in black and whiteA cameo that shines amidst popcorn.

Roman Bellic's prank is also at the bottom of the sea. In a submerged hatch off the east coast, if you get close you'll hear knocks that can be translated into Tap Code to his legendary phrase: “Hey, you never call, how d'you fancy going bowling.” It's impossible not to smile.

Grove Street and the nods to San Andreas

The “Hood Safari” mission takes us back to Grove Street with CJ, Big Smoke and Sweet in memoryThe NPCs sport a 90s aesthetic, and you'll often see three cyclists reminiscent of the iconic "Sweet & Kendl" mission. Nearby walls read "Welcome back, we've missed you since last time," along with "SA."

The saga continually intersects: “Better than CJ” is a golden requirement in “Derailed,” a reference to “Wrong Side of the Tracks”; “Freefall” shares its name and objective with “Freefall”; “Reuniting the Family” is in dialogue with “Reuniting the Families”; and “Unearthing the Past” alludes to “Saint Mark's Bistro” (trip to a snowy city, including shootings).

There are more breadcrumbs: Trevor sometimes shouts “10 points!” when running over pedestrians, echoing the early days of Grand Theft Auto; a “Los Santos” graffiti in classic typography; a “Racing Brunette” tattoo replicating a Willowfield mural; and the Families and Ballas exchanging barbs about CJ.

Red Dead Redemption inside GTA V

Franklin has a book on his bookshelf titled “Red Dead” signed by J. MarstonAnd in Pillbox Hill there's a stencil with John's unmistakable silhouette on horseback. In GTA Online you can manipulate the family tree and put John Marston as the "father".

There are also diplomas at the Yellow Jack Inn that say "Best Seen in 2010" (the year RDR came out), a "Ladder" bus reminiscent of the Mexican area, and Online pedestrians wearing RDR t-shirts John MarstonAnd, as we said, the hunter in "The Last One" recycles the Undead Nightmare model, a delightful meta nod.

More movies and video games: Max Payne, Drive, 007 and Back to the Future

At SubUrban, with Michael, you can buy the Hawaiian shirt from Max Payne 3 and the red vest, Marty McFly style. There's also the JB 700 car, an Aston Martin straight out of James Bond (without the deadly gadgets, of course), and thousands of references to the gigawatts that allow travel in There in Back to the Future.

In a shop near Trevor's rink, they sell a whitish jacket with a crab on the back that parodies the one from Ryan Gosling on Drive (where it was a scorpion). At another point in the campaign, you enter a garage with a list of cars only visible under ultraviolet light: a clear homage to "Gone in 60 Seconds".

Walking through the "Chinatown" in Vinewood you'll see street performers who are carbon copies of the Halo Master ChiefIn construction, several machines sport designs and paint jobs reminiscent of Claptrap from Borderlands. And Floyd's apartment, which Trevor breaks into, is almost identical to Melanie's in "Jackie Brown."

Rockstar parodies and self-references

GTA V is pure self-awareness: the Maibatsu Corporation evokes Zaibatsu In GTA 2, the Z-Type reappears as a tribute, and the Bahama Mamas club opens a branch in Los Santos. “Sequel II” parodies Bully’s “Sequel: The Movie,” and an NPC wearing a “Hopkins” jacket sneaks into the Vanilla Unicorn.

Lester is a walking pop culture museum: his house is full of nods to anime, The X-Files, Halo, Bigfoot, and a thousand other conspiracy-theory obsessions. In Franklin's house in Vinewood Hills, you'll find a book called "The Liberty King" with the face of... Donald Love (which also appears in a clipping in Hayes Autos). And don't forget the Honkers club sticker or the "This does not exist" sign placed at maximum altitude above sea level.

On the radio, Brucie Kibbutz advertises supplements and has his own website; on the street you see newspapers with Johnny Klebitz Following the events of story mode; an LCC Hexer license plate reads “LUISLOPZ”; Devin Weston boasts of a website registered in 2009 (the year of Chinatown Wars), and the taser from that installment reappears in GTA V in its definitive version.

Strange numbers, killers, and maps with ultraviolet light

There are several phones that “do things”: 555-0164 plays an annoying beep; 555-0156 picks up and hangs up; and the 555-0139 plays a continuous melody for minutes. They're inside jokes that fuel theories; if you're looking for shortcuts, consult cheat codes for GTA V on PC.

The city is marked by a macabre thread: an alleged killer left graffiti and musical tracks which lead to another clue, and so on, all the way to cell 9A of the prison. A newspaper clipping, found near the first clue, claims the killer died behind bars. Case closed or a smokescreen?

If you have the collector's edition and you take out the physical map under UV lightYou'll discover coordinates, jokes, markers, and the location of some UFOs. And to top it all off, Weazel News announces on the radio that a meteorite will hit Los Santos next week. You can wait forever: it never happens.

Curious events, visual jokes and cameos

There's a street race called "Highway" whose layout, ahem, resembles a penis with testicles. In Paleto Bay, the mural behind the police station reuses the recruitment poster of the Liberty City LCPDAnd a Merryweather soldier looks too much like James "The Beard" Harden to be a coincidence.

“Scooter Brothers” is another gem: when he switches to Trevor, he sometimes drafts behind someone on a scooter shouting “We are the Scooter Brothers!” The Faggio’s license plate, BETTY 32, matches his Bodhi’s, and everything points back to that. legendary GTA IV video.

Vinewood Wax Haven features a mural with Marilyn, Chaplin, John Wayne, and Elvis; Laguna Place displays black-and-white artwork of the Vice City Lady; behind the Vanilla Unicorn there is a sign “Car Tune Network” (Cartoon Network); and next to the “Friend Request” SubUrban you will see the “Hippy Feet” store, parodying Happy Feet.

At Del Perro Beach there's a pink graffiti that reads “Nothing to see here! Groove along :)”, a close relative of the hidden messages seen in previous installments. Records are circulating around the city. Madd Dogg and OG LocAnd on Carcer Way in Los Santos, there's another reference to Manhunt, the same saga alluded to by the mask you can buy at the Vespucci Beach store.

More details of crazy precision

In “I Faced the Law…”, Michael and Trevor throw donuts on the ground while riding a motorcycle...replicating a moment from "Reuniting the Families." In "Paleto's Heist," everything exudes classic San Andreas. In the UV-lit garage mission, "Gone in 60 Seconds" is the explicit nod. And yes, Floyd's apartment looks like it came straight out of "Jackie Brown."

You'll also find the license plate "LUISLOPZ" on an LCC Hexer, the Bahama Mamas club operating as a franchise, and even a "foam glove" in the Sandy Shores tattoo parlor hiding the middle finger with the thumb, like that bonus from bygone eras. The list of eight Merle Abrahams's work, etched into rocks at Sandy Shores, adds another disturbing layer.

Finally, pay attention to the small tributes between missionsThe style of certain NPCs on the beach, the graffiti on Lower Power Street, and the "Los Santos Golf Club, founded in 1992," the year in which San Andreas takes place. GTA V looks back fondly, and sideways with malice.

Where to watch and how to activate some classics

In case you get lost among all the references, remember: the reenactment of Thelma and Louise happens every day around 19:00 p.m.; Jolene's ghost appears on Mount Gordo. between 23:00 and 0:00The Chiliad UFO only appears at 3:00 with a storm and the game is at 100% completion; the Lost hatch is at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean off the east coast; and the alien from the prologue is under the bridge, but you have to go straight there or you fail the mission.

The snowman awaits you in La Mesa; the giant orange, in Vinewood Hills and at the Sandy Shores exit towards Grapeseed; the Playboy Mansion, in Richman; the Rehab Island sign, scattered throughout Los Santos; and the graffiti Manson's 1807 on a wall in Vinewood Hills. For RDR references, check out Franklin's library, the underpass in Pillbox Hill, and the character settings in GTA Online.

A community that never stops scratching

Many of these findings have come from community initiatives: forums, wikis, and groups dedicated to secrets, easter eggs, glitches and theoriesSpaces where discoveries are shared in a friendly atmosphere with clear rules (no insults or advertising for others, except for personal game or art projects). Thanks to this collective obsession, GTA V is still going strong years later.

When navigating all these secrets, it's helpful to keep a mental list: Aliens and UFOs around Chiliad and Fort ZancudoMovies and TV shows are featured in time-spanning events like Thelma and Louise; there are cross-references to GTA IV, San Andreas, and Red Dead throughout the city; and hidden jokes are found in phones, newspapers, UV lights, and walls. If you let your curiosity get the better of you, Los Santos becomes a theme park of references where every corner has a story.