Grand Theft Auto 5 is still going strong thanks to a combination of developer ingenuity and a passionate fan base. The former involves industry veteran Rockstar Games consistently releasing updates to Grand Theft Auto 5's online features that draw players back into the open-world sandbox title, and the latter showcases one of the most dedicated groups of players in the history of gaming.

That dedication doesn't always lead to showers of praise for Rockstar Games, however, with the studio recently having to weather massive public backlash over the removal of Grand Theft Auto 5's Open IV modding system. Even then, however, it appears Rockstar was fully prepared with a content update that would immediately cause a buzz in the Grand Theft Auto 5 scene - the inclusion of new lines of code in the most recent Gunrunning update that indicate the years-long Chiliad Mystery might finally be solved.

For those unfamiliar, the Chiliad Mystery refers to a serious of cryptic images that eventually bring players to the top of Mt. Chiliad at 3am in the rain. With those conditions met, a massive UFO appears in the sky above them, an event that has quickly become one of Grand Theft Auto 5's most popular easter eggs and one of the biggest conspiracy theories in modern gaming.

The problem? That mystery began four years ago, and after the initial discovery an entire team of players digging through Grand Theft Auto 5's code hasn't been able to uncover anything else. The recent release of the Gunrunning update has changed everything, though, with models of an alien egg, a battered UFO, aliens, and government agents being discovered after players downloaded the patch. Even better, a script has finally been attached to the egg, which appears to indicate it will feature into content plans after all, although players haven't discovered what they need to do to activate said script - if there's even a way, currently.

The most promising bit of code, however, is the one that ties each of these new props to a specific location, with each one pointing towards Fort Zancudo. That base is already well-known in Grand Theft Auto 5 for its ties to alien activity, so it seems unlikely that this is all just a coincidence and that Rockstar accidentally associated random alien imagery with the central location in a nearly half-decade-long conspiracy theory.

For now, though, nobody knows what all of this code actually means - just that it's the closest the community has come to a breakthrough on the Chiliad Mystery in years. It has been said before, but it seems like this might finally be the appropriate time: stay tuned for more updates on the longest-running mystery in Grand Theft Auto 5, because it appears we'll be getting them soon.

Those interested in following the mystery more closely really should check out the findings of The Game Files Guru, too - they're the group responsible for the bulk of the breakthroughs thus far, and they deserve some serious recognition for all their hard work. Special thanks goes to Tadd from TGFG for providing some of the info on this post.

Grand Theft Auto 5 is available now for PC, PS4, PS3, Xbox One, and Xbox 360.

Source: Kotaku