GTA 5’s Unsolvable Mystery Drove Fans Crazy for Over a Decade—and GTA 6 Should Do the Same

Few landmarks in Grand Theft Auto 5 are as unmistakable as Mount Chiliad. Visible from much of San Andreas, the towering peak stands 2,744 meters high, according to a sign near the Silent Probe Mountain art installation. The sign says Spain claimed the mountain in 1769, Mexico took control in 1821, and it has remained in American hands since 1847.

Mount Chiliad is more than a striking backdrop. After completing the game’s story to 100%, players can visit its summit at 3 a.m. in cloudy weather to see a UFO hovering overhead. The craft bears the logo of the Federal Investigation Bureau, or F.I.B., suggesting a government connection. Yet some players believe the sighting is an elaborate trick: bullets do not affect the object, and nearby raindrops appear pixelated.

One popular explanation is that the summit UFO is a hologram, unlike two other airborne UFOs in the game. Those craft appear high above Fort Zancudo and Silent Probe Mountain. Players can collide with them, and approaching too closely triggers an electromagnetic pulse that disables their vehicle. Both may also have government ties. The Fort Zancudo craft resembles a B-2 Spirit stealth bomber and, when examined with third-party software, contains two human pilots. The Silent Probe Mountain craft carries an F.I.B. logo.

Players had reason to suspect the summit held a secret thanks to graffiti on the back of the observation deck: “come back when your story is complete.” GTA Online later revealed a nuclear launch facility inside the mountain. Even so, some fans remain convinced that Mount Chiliad conceals another mystery that has yet to be solved.

Much of that speculation centers on a mural inside the tramway station near the summit. It shows a stylized mountain topped by an eye, with lightning bolts outside and a network of intersecting lines within. The lines connect to eight boxes: five small ones marked with Xs and three larger ones depicting a UFO, a cracked egg, and a person wearing a jetpack.

On September 24, 2013, one week after GTA 5 launched, fans created the Chiliad Mystery subreddit to investigate the mountain’s secrets. Community members connected the mural’s Xs to petroglyphs scattered around the mountain, including images interpreted as weather conditions associated with the summit UFO. Another theory treats each X as the Roman numeral for 10, making the five symbols a reference to the 50 spaceship parts hidden across San Andreas.

The jetpack has inspired its own debate. In an GTA Online mission involving the nuclear facility, players escape using one. That could explain the mural’s image, although some fans had hoped the reward would be a permanent jetpack for the single-player game. Others connect the symbol to the UFO above Fort Zancudo, noting that the jetpack in GTA: San Andreas is found at a military base.

The cracked egg may be the most puzzling image of all. Some players associate it with the Epsilon cult, whose beliefs include the idea that the world hatched from an egg. Others see a resemblance to the fountain near Los Santos’ Maze Bank Tower. A more common theory links the image to the submerged UFO off the coast of Paleto Bay.

Put together, the mural could simply point players toward the game’s UFO sightings. For many mystery hunters, however, that explanation feels too neat—and too disappointing—to close the case.

New theories continue to appear. Reddit user Alexisuwuu23 has suggested that the in-game film “Capolavoro” holds a clue. The theory connects a billboard for the film with streetlights that form a question mark when viewed from the observatory, as well as a disappearing ladder. Other users have eagerly joined the discussion.

In September 2026, user AntelopeIcy6558 proposed a different theory involving the eight lights on the Maze Bank Tower helipad. The post suggests shooting them in a particular order, potentially determined by eight locations around Los Santos that resemble keyholes when viewed from the right angle.

Some theories reach beyond GTA 5 to include Red Dead Redemption 2. Canceled downloadable content and datamined files have supplied further material for speculation, though unreleased projects are unlikely to provide a definitive answer. Others hope GTA 6 will eventually resolve the mystery.

There is also a more skeptical interpretation. In an early Reddit post, user talkol argued that the game’s files contained no evidence of a usable jetpack or flyable UFO. That finding challenged some of the community’s most ambitious expectations, but it did little to bring the theorizing to an end.

In 2025, YouTuber Gator Keys offered another explanation in “This is The End of the Mount Chiliad Mystery,” as IGN reported. Rather than treating the mural as a guide to an elaborate hidden reward, he argued that its imagery points to a simpler idea: an all-seeing, powerful government. In that reading, the eye and the F.I.B.-marked UFOs form a satirical nod to conspiracy theories such as the Illuminati.

Whether that interpretation is correct may matter less than the community the mystery created. For years, players have compared clues, challenged assumptions, and encouraged one another to keep looking. The hunt recalls playground stories about finding Mew beneath a truck in Pokémon Red and Blue—the kind of rumor that becomes part of a game’s appeal.

Many modern gaming secrets are uncovered quickly through datamining and online collaboration. Mount Chiliad, intentionally or otherwise, has kept players talking for more than a decade. Whatever mysteries GTA 6 brings, the mountain shows how a few intriguing symbols can give a community something to investigate long after the main story ends.

Source: Polygon