From San Andreas To Red Dead 2, Charting Rockstar’s UFO Obsession

What is it with Rockstar Games and UFOs? Since time immemorial (or so it seems), fans have been scouring Rockstar’s games for signs of extraterrestrial activity, convinced that hidden deep in the in-game wilderness (or in the more organized wilderness of San Andreas’ game files), there were signs of alien life.

So while in the real world the US government is grappling with the growing body of UAP sightings, and as we begin to treat seriously the idea that there might be something out there, let’s revisit Rockstar’s own history with the phenomenon—from its mythological origins to its mainstay (if hidden) presence in their games today.

It All Started In San Andreas (Kind Of)

There are few sources of conspiracy theory and rampant speculation in gaming quite like the wealth of UFO research surrounding GTA: San Andreas. Ever since the game came out back in 2004, fans have been convinced there are UFOs in the game, posting ‘evidence’ of shadows on the ground, strange lights in the sky, suspicious naming of game files referencing UFOs, and plenty of other tidbits that you could class as ‘circumstantial evidence’ if you were feeling charitable.

Honestly, I was kind of floored by the commitment. Y’all never heard of weather balloons? Does swamp gas blow your mind?

I’m being mean, This is Rockstar we’re talking about, and they’re too tightlipped for us to know which it is. The game’s files do call the lights in the sky “UFO lights,” and whether that’s just a joke or a reference to what they are/could be, that’s certainly enough for the fans, and it only snowballed from there.

Correlation doesn’t mean causation, but the fact is that after the admirably rampant Ufology surrounding San Andreas, Rockstar leaned into the fandom and began to quietly integrate mysterious aerial phenomena into its games. Going in chronological order, the next UFO sighting was in Bully in 2006, which had a side mission where some homeless person taught Jimmy extra combat combos in exchange for radio parts. Get them all, and the guy gets happily abducted by aliens.

The supernatural element is a surprise turn but as a character moment it’s very in tune with the rest of the game. For me, Bully is one of Rockstar’s best games in part due to the strong, genuinely funny, character writing, so this moment works as well as being the place we finally saw the fabled UFOs.

Aside from Bully, I scoured the list of Rockstar’s games before GTA V, and the closest thing I found is this Easter egg from Manhunt 2, which seems to be the fetus or child version of a gray alien.

GTA IV, meanwhile, does have strange glowing lights in the sky, which seemed like they should’ve been attached to planes but in fact weren’t attached to anything. It was a tad tenuous, and this time around the fans seemed more convinced it was a glitch rather than something extraterrestrial.

Flying High in GTA V

It’s only with GTA V in 2013 that Rockstar really committed to the UFO bit, finally giving fans what they wanted after years of fruitless theorising. The opening mission of GTA V has a UFO frozen under the ice, Michael also has both a story and a Stranger mission where he gets high and imagines aliens, and if you complete the game to 100%, around 5 or 6 UFOs will spawn around the map.

I managed to go back and track down the one that flies around the area above Sandy Shores. It was no easy task, as I had to fly so high as to see the curvature of the Earth below me, but there it was: resplendent in its retro-futuristic LED lighting and classic chrome chassis, and slapped with the FIB logo spinning around it.

Weird West

Saving the best for last, in Red Dead Redemption 2 go to a shack called Hani’s Bethel, just north of Emerald Ranch, at two in the morning. Enter the shack at the right time, and an eerie green glow will leak from the ceiling. Look through the cracks, and yep, it’s what you thought: Arthur is being scanned by a UFO!

Strangely, the UFO sighting is pretty in keeping with RDR 2’s tone. Red Dead Redemption 2 is a slow drama, with a strong focus on realism and often bleak storytelling. As such, Rockstar doesn’t introduce this UFO for levity, but to induce a sense of foreboding and fear, leaving you disoriented with no idea what’s going on. Stoic man that he is, Arthur stays silent through the whole ordeal, so we don’t even know what he thinks of all this.

Rockstar’s use of UFOs is fascinating. Starting as nothing more than cute little references where they didn’t really appear, to the sudden evolution of abducting a side character, a reward for 100% completion, and a bone-chilling moment you don’t have a response to. If UFOs are set to return in GTA VI, count me in. I’m ready.