Month after month, Grand Theft Auto Online provides frequent updates to its player base. That’s why players knew it was only a matter of time before Rockstar revealed its Halloween plans for Grand Theft Auto Online for the year.
Patience appears to have paid off, as Rockstar launched this year’s unique Halloween event on Friday morning. It didn’t take long for Grand Theft Auto Online players to figure out what had changed. This year’s Halloween celebration appears to be centered on UFO sightings.
The new Grand Theft Auto Online event, “Sightseeing,” is centered on daily encounters with unidentified flying objects. Every day between Friday, October 15, and Thursday, October 21, will feature a special UFO encounter.
A UFO will visit a different area of the Grand Theft Auto Online map every day, but only during specific hours of the in-game night. These UFO encounters are brief and only marginally interactive, teasing larger Halloween event shenanigans to come.
UFOs will appear in-game between 10:00 p.m. and 3:00 a.m., according to the in-game clock. They primarily appear at night. Every real-world day will take place in a different location. For example, Friday’s UFO sighting occurred along the beach to the south of Paleto Bay. The meeting on Saturday will take place in the far northwestern part of the state of San Andreas. A UFO is seen floating above the ground as if on a sightseeing mission.
Players will be able to see the UFO but will not be able to interact with it directly. When players approach the UFO, a brief flash of lightning and thunder will be followed by the UFO instantly disappearing.
Strange sightings in GTA Online as Halloween approaches. pic.twitter.com/DsJm8dFhsk
— Rockstar Games (@RockstarGames) October 15, 2021
A funny extra effect will occur if players approach the UFO in a vehicle, such as a helicopter or plane. The player’s vehicle will briefly lose power, plummeting to the ground if in the sky, only to regain power once the UFO has vanished.
There are no specific hints as to what the Grand Theft Auto Online Sightseeing UFO event is pointing towards. All of the UFO sightings over the next week appear to be in the northern half of the island, suggesting that the UFO is looking for something. What that something is will most likely be revealed starting next Friday, October 22, in the run-up to Halloween.
More information about Halloween in Grand Theft Auto Online will be released in the coming weeks. Halloween 2020, like previous years, was jam-packed with special Halloween discounts, bonus rewards, game modes, and cosmetics.
