What you need before starting
Prerequisites, in rough order of importance:
- An hour or two per full set
- The Sonar Collections Dock or a submarine for anything underwater
- A checklist for untracked sets
- A helicopter or plane for rooftop and mountain items
A common follow-up is GTA 5 secret cars rare spawn map; it uses the same session setup.
The exact method
Our GTA 5 UFO locations routine, as we actually run it:
- Check the trigger conditions for GTA 5 UFO locations: time of day, weather, 100% completion, a specific protagonist or a mission already finished.
- Record or screenshot immediately; some secrets despawn after one trigger per in-game day.
- Verify against a dated source, because mods and fan videos have added fake secrets that spread faster than the real ones.
- Move to related secrets nearby; Rockstar clusters them (Mount Chiliad, the Alamo Sea, Paleto Bay).
If your result differs, compare it with the figures table before assuming the method has changed.
Reference table: UFO GTA 5
Before any opinion, the data:
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Setting | Los Santos and Blaine County, state of San Andreas |
| Endings | A: Something Sensible (kill Trevor), B: The Time's Come (kill Michael), C: The Third Way (Deathwish) - the only ending where all three survive |
| Story heists | The Jewel Store Job, The Merryweather Heist, The Paleto Score, The Bureau Raid, The Big Score |
| Released | September 17, 2013 (PS3/360), November 2014 (PS4/One), April 14, 2015 (PC), March 15, 2022 (PS5/Series X|S), March 2025 (PC Enhanced) |
Setting is the figure most often misquoted in GTA 5 UFO locations discussions; Endings is the one most often left out.
What is at stake
Collectibles count toward 100 percent, which is required for the golden peyote and a handful of other secrets.
Secrets make story mode worth revisiting after the credits, and most of GTA 5 UFO locations is only possible with 100% completion or a specific character.
- ✗Searching for the jetpack from the Chiliad mural; it was never in story mode
- ✗Trusting modded videos of secrets that do not exist in the base game
- ✗Assuming an online guide's numbering matches the in-game order
Rumors, debunked
Claims about GTA 5 UFO locations that circulate, and what is actually true:
Myth: Bigfoot roams randomly
Reality: He appears in a scripted mission and as a peyote transformation under specific conditions.
Myth: There are ghosts in GTA Online's Mount Gordo
Reality: The Mount Gordo ghost is story mode only; GTA Online's ghosts are the Halloween event.
Myth: The jetpack is hidden on Mount Chiliad in GTA V
Reality: The Chiliad mural teased it, but the only jetpack is the Thruster in GTA Online.
Myth: The Chiliad mural hides an unsolved jetpack puzzle
Reality: Rockstar added the jetpack to GTA Online instead; the mural's known elements have been found.
Avoid these with GTA 5 UFO locations
Avoiding these saves more time than any trick:
- Not saving between regions
- Walking up to the Mount Gordo ghost; it disappears when approached
- Looking for UFOs without 100% completion - the Zancudo and Chiliad craft need it
- Collecting with one character when the set is character-specific
The Mount Chiliad mural sent players searching for a decade; the resolved parts (UFOs, the Sasquatch, the hidden UFO wreck) are all repeatable with the right conditions, and the unresolved parts are probably art, not puzzle.
Pick your route
Players tackle GTA 5 UFO locations in a few recognisable ways. Here are the ones that hold up:
Underwater sweep
The Kraken or Dinghy for the sunken UFO off Paleto Bay, the hidden packages and the shipwrecks; the Zodiac Dinghy is enough.
Post-100% tour
Do the UFO circuit (Zancudo, Chiliad, Sandy Shores) and the Sasquatch hunt after the checklist is complete.
Expert tips for GTA 5 UFO locations
Details that separate a first run from a tenth:
- →The golden peyote needs 100 percent completion, foggy weather and the early-morning window on specific days.
- →Franklin's Chop can bark near some hidden items in the Chop app era.
- →Ghost of Mount Gordo: the name Jolene is written on the rocks beneath her; the backstory ties to Jock Cranley's campaign posters.
- →Bigfoot: as Franklin, 'The Last One' Strangers and Freaks mission unlocks at 100% and has you hunt the Sasquatch.
A common follow-up is GTA 5 Los Santos Customs; it uses the same session setup.
Understanding GTA 5 UFO locations in GTA 5
The thing to know about GTA 5 UFO locations before starting is which items are tracked by the game and which are not; the untracked ones need a checklist.
Collectibles count toward 100 percent, which is required for the golden peyote and a handful of other secrets.
Rockstar's secrets fall into three kinds: scripted (the Mount Gordo ghost appears every night), conditional (UFOs need 100% completion) and misread (random shadows and textures). GTA 5 UFO locations needs to be sorted into one of those before you spend time on it.
Glossary
Terms used above, briefly:
- Tracked - A collectible counted in the Awards or Social Club stats
- Strand - A chain of Strangers and Freaks missions tied to a collectible
- Golden peyote - The rare peyote that turns you into Bigfoot under specific conditions
- Sonar Collections Dock - The Paleto Cove property that enables the nuclear waste hunt
We cover GTA 5 rampages separately, including the parts that do not apply here.
Further reading and data
Sources worth bookmarking for GTA 5 UFO locations:
- Rockstar Support - known issues, the ban policy and account help
- GTAForums - the oldest community archive, from the Chiliad mystery to modding threads
- Rockstar Newswire - official announcements, weekly GTA Online bonuses and patch notes
- GTA Wiki - mission scripts, vehicle stats and historical data - check the edit date
Community testers publish raw data; when our figures and theirs differ we update ours.
Bottom line
Our position on GTA 5 UFO locations: do it, but do it in the order above and with the current figures. The players who struggle are usually working from a 2024 video.
GTA 5 UFO locations is one of those tasks where a plan saves hours: the items are fixed, the map is big, and the only variable is the order you visit them in.
Two guides that build on this: GTA 5 easter eggs and GTA 5 ghost Jolene location.
