GTA 5, initially released in 2013, was one of the most mammoth achievements in game development and despite its age, the game still continues to be as impressive as it was back in 2013. Rockstar Games had not only managed to recreate parts of Los Santos and the San Andreas state first introduced in GTA San Andreas but expanded on the location with new areas.
The game is not only packed with a bunch of cool side quests and inside jokes strewn all over the city but also tons of cool easter eggs and secrets reserved only for the most eagle-eyed players. From pop culture references to actual aliens and ghosts, GTA 5’s Los Santos and County is one of the most fascinating locations in modern-day gaming.
Here, we take a look at some secret locations and references that Rockstar managed to sneak into the game, giving players plenty of interesting things to experience outside of the main story.
Top 5 Secret Locations and Easter Eggs in GTA 5
No Country for Old Men
It has been abundantly clear that the Houser brothers, especially Dan Houser, share a deep appreciation and love for film and somehow find ways to sneak it into the Grand Theft Auto games. Joel and Ethan Coen’s Oscar-Nominated ‘No Country for Old Men’ was one of the seminal hits of the 2000s and seemingly had a major impact on modern-day depictions of Westerns in cinema.
This hidden location was Rockstar at their movie-appreciating best when they recreated a scene from the 2008 movie. Just off of the highway at the base of Mount Chiliad, players will find a number of cars and corpses lying in a field. Within the carnage is a lone survivor who will tell the player to not take away a silver briefcase lying nearby.
Of course, the player can choose to take the money but then they will be immediately chased down by several cartel members on the highway. This is a clear reference to No Country for Old Men when at the start of the movie Josh Brolin’s character stumbles upon a similar situation of a deal gone wrong.
The Haunting of Mount Grodo
In their time in GTA 5, if the player happens to listen to the radio quite a bit or browse the internet, they will have stumbled upon the case of famous stuntman Jock Cranley and his wife, Jolene Cranley-Evans, whose murder Jock is implicated in. The story goes that Jock Cranley was arrested for the murder of his wife, Jolene and that he pushed her off of the cliff of Mount Gordo.
However, Jock was then released without charge and the police investigation concluded that Jolene’s death was accidental. The urban legend in GTA 5 goes that Jolene’s spirit haunts the cliff at Mount Gordo, and paranormal hunters in the game can check it out for themselves.
If the player happens to go to the cliffs of Mount Gordo at night, between 23:00 and 00:00, they will be able to see a sliver of a ghost at the base of the mountain. Upon closer inspection, the players will be able to see a ghastly apparition of Jolene Cranley-Evan and the name “Jock” written in blood on the rock she hovers above.
This is one of the most chilling secrets in GTA 5 and also perhaps one of the coolest instances of world-building in the franchise’s history.
UFOs and Aliens
Strewn all across Los Santos and County are a number of secrets and easter eggs hinting at extra-terrestrial presence in the world of Grand Theft Auto. The earliest alien sighting comes at the very start of the game in Ludendorff. Once the player gets into the getaway car, they will be able to drive underneath a bridge on a frozen lake and see a body of an alien floating just underneath the surface.
This is only the first of many as players can then also spot something much bigger off the coast of Procopio Beach. Players can use a submersible such as Mini-Sub to explore the depths of the ocean and miles underneath the surface is a defunct UFO just lying at the bottom of the ocean.
The next UFO sighting is a bit more challenging as it requires players to complete the game 100%. This can be tracked through the completion screen in the Pause Menu. Once the player has reached 100% completion, they can head over to Sandy Shores and head up into the sky with a jet/helicopter or a jetpack to see a giant UFO.
There are a couple of more UFOs lurking about in the skies above both Fort Zancudo and Mount Chiliad. Players should note that they will need to reach 100 per cent completion before they can see the final UFO above Mount Chiliad.
The Infinity Killer
Up next is easily the most grizzly of secrets in the game and it is one that will require players to do some detective work all over Los Santos and County. Way back in the day, Merle Abrahams, dubbed the Infinity Killer, terrorized San Andreas and just to mess with the law even further – he laid out clues hinting at the final resting places of his victims.
Players can track down 8 of these clues just north of Paleto Bay, and finding each of these bodies can be an arduous task. Although the hints or the bodies are not interactable in any way, these are still incredibly well-detailed secrets that eagle-eyed players might appreciate.
These clues can be found etched into stone or walls all throughout Paleto Bay. The bodies can also be found underwater, which might require players to use a submersible.
Underwater Hatch, Lost, and…Roman Bellic?
One of the coolest easter eggs in GTA 5 is a reference to the pop culture phenomenon that was the hit TV series – Lost. Deep underwater just off of the east coast of Los Santos is an underwater hatch, much like the one seen on the island in Lost. The hatch itself cannot be interacted with but players will find that it emits a certain frequency code.
Players have been able to decode the frequency and ultimately discovered it to be a reference to none other than “fan-favourite” sidekick, Roman Bellic. Roman was a prominent character in Grand Theft Auto IV and perhaps his most memorable addition to the game was his incessant requests for going bowling.
The decoded frequency is essentially Roman Bellic reaching out from Liberty City asking the player one last time if they want to, indeed, go bowling.
