There are four UFOs in GTA 5 and the difference between them is not location, it is access. Three require the game to be finished completely. One is sitting there right now regardless of how far into the story you are. Here is where each one is and what it takes to see it.
The one you can see today
The submerged UFO near Paleto Bay is the exception to everything. It rests close to the ocean floor and it does not care about your completion percentage.
That makes it the only sighting available to a new player, and it is also the least talked about, because it does not hover dramatically over anything.
You need a way to reach the sea floor, which means a submarine or diving equipment. Swimming down and holding your breath does not get you deep enough.
Condition: none. Requirement: the means to get underwater.
Mount Chiliad, the famous one
This is the sighting that built the entire mythology around the mountain, and it has the strictest conditions of the four.
It appears at the top of Mount Chiliad at 3:00, during a storm, with the game completed to 100 percent. Miss any one of those and there is nothing above the peak.
It also behaves oddly once it is there. It does not react to bullets or explosions, and it disappears if you get too close or drift too far away, which is why it is generally described as a hologram rather than an object.
Condition: 100 percent completion, 3:00, stormy weather. Requirement: patience with the weather.
Sandy Shores, above the hippy camp
The second post completion sighting hovers over the desert, above the camp full of alien paraphernalia between the airfield and the highway to the east.
Reaching it means flying at maximum helicopter altitude. It is not visible from the ground, and that explains why plenty of players walk underneath it without ever knowing.
Unlike the mountain one, this does not require a specific time or weather. After 100 percent, it is simply there.
Condition: 100 percent completion. Requirement: a helicopter and the patience to climb.
Fort Zancudo, above the base
The fourth sits above the military base, at roughly 80 percent of maximum helicopter altitude.
This one carries an obvious complication. Flying over Fort Zancudo attracts the military, so the sightseeing happens while something is trying to shoot you down.
The practical approach is altitude first, then position. Climb well away from the base, then drift over it high, rather than approaching low and climbing above it.
Condition: 100 percent completion. Requirement: a helicopter and a tolerance for anti aircraft attention.
All four side by side
| Location | Needs 100 percent | Extra conditions | How you get there |
|---|---|---|---|
| near Paleto Bay, underwater | no | none | submarine or diving gear |
| Mount Chiliad | yes | 3:00 and a storm | any route to the peak |
| Sandy Shores | yes | none | helicopter at maximum altitude |
| Fort Zancudo | yes | none | helicopter, about 80 percent altitude |
Read down the first column and the whole subject becomes simple. One is a sightseeing trip, three are a reward for finishing the game.
What 100 percent completion actually means
This is the part that stops most people, and it is worth being blunt about the size of it.
Full completion is not just the story missions. It includes side activities, hobbies, random encounters and the collectible hunts, which is where the real time goes.
The two big collectible sets are the spaceship parts and the letter scraps, fifty of each. They are scattered across the entire map and they are the reason most save files stop somewhere in the nineties.
If you are working toward the UFOs, those two hunts are the bulk of the work, and we mapped the first one over in our rundown of GTA 5 spaceship parts.
Getting the weather and the clock to cooperate
The Mount Chiliad sighting fails for most people on logistics rather than location, so it is worth handling those two conditions deliberately.
The clock. Sleeping at a safehouse moves time forward in fixed blocks, which is far more efficient than waiting. Aim to wake up shortly before 3:00 rather than trying to hit it exactly.
The weather. It changes on its own schedule, so the practical approach is to check the sky each time you sleep and only make the climb when a storm is already running.
The climb itself. Do it before the clock matters. The cable car and the trails both take real minutes, and arriving at 3:20 means another full day of waiting.
Park something at the peak the first time you go up. Every later attempt then starts at the top rather than at the bottom, which turns a twenty minute trip into a two minute one.
Why the Mount Chiliad one behaves strangely
Players consistently report the same three things: it ignores gunfire, it vanishes when approached, and it cannot be interacted with in any way.
That combination is why the community settled on the hologram explanation. It is placed to be seen from a distance under specific conditions, not to be examined.
Which also explains the endless theories. An object you cannot touch, appearing only in a storm at three in the morning, is designed to generate exactly that kind of speculation.
The mural on the mountain feeds the same loop, and between the two of them the peak has produced more theories than any other place in the game.
How to actually go and see them
- Check your completion percentage in the stats menu before planning anything.
- Start with the underwater one if you are below 100 percent. It is the only one available.
- Get a helicopter for the Sandy Shores and Zancudo sightings. Nothing else reaches the altitude comfortably.
- For Mount Chiliad, sleep to move the clock and wait for a storm rather than hoping to catch both at once.
- Save before flying over Zancudo. That trip ends in a crash more often than not.
Helicopters are easiest to find at the hospitals and on rooftops, and if you would rather buy something that stays yours, the storage options are covered in our notes on airports in GTA 5.
Where the theories came from
The mountain carries a mural showing shapes that fans read as a map, and that image is the seed of every theory attached to these sightings.
People connected the mural, the glyphs painted around the map and the UFO appearances into one puzzle, then spent years testing combinations of weather, time and completion percentage.
What came out of all that is what you see above: reliable conditions for each sighting, and nothing behind them. The hunt produced excellent documentation and no hidden reward.
It also produced the most durable myth in the series, which arguably outlasted anything an actual unlockable would have been. The other collectible hunts feed the same completion goal, and we walked through one of them in our guide to GTA 5 letter scraps.
What the UFOs are not
Two things worth saying plainly, because both come up constantly.
They do not unlock anything. No vehicle, no weapon, no mission. Seeing all four changes nothing in your save file.
There is no jetpack behind them. The long running theory that the mountain mural leads to one has never produced anything in the story mode, despite years of searching.
So the reward here is the trip itself. That is not a criticism, it is just worth knowing before you spend twenty hours reaching 100 percent expecting a prize at the end.
The underwater one deserves more attention
Since it is the only sighting available before completion, it is worth a paragraph of its own.
The wreck sits deep enough that you need proper equipment, which in the story mode means a submersible. Those appear as part of the campaign and can be found around the coast afterwards.
Visibility down there is poor and the map gives you no marker, so the search is genuinely a search. Bring something with lights and expect to spend a few minutes crossing the sea floor near Paleto Bay.
It is also the sighting that survives closest inspection. Unlike the mountain one, it does not vanish when you approach, which makes it the only one you can properly look at.
Frequently asked questions about GTA 5 UFO locations
How many UFOs are in GTA 5?
Four. Mount Chiliad, Sandy Shores, above Fort Zancudo, and one underwater near Paleto Bay.
Do you need 100 percent completion?
For three of them, yes. The submerged one near Paleto Bay can be found at any point.
When does the Mount Chiliad UFO appear?
At 3:00 during stormy weather, with the game completed to 100 percent. All three conditions must be met.
Why can I not shoot it?
It does not react to bullets or explosions and vanishes if you get too close, that is the reason it is described as a hologram.
How do I reach the Sandy Shores UFO?
Fly a helicopter to maximum altitude above the hippy camp between the airfield and the highway.
Is the Fort Zancudo one dangerous to visit?
Flying over the base attracts the military, so approach high from a distance rather than climbing above it.
Do the UFOs unlock anything?
No. There is no reward, no vehicle and no jetpack attached to finding them.
Last updated: September 2026
