Rockstar Games has always been known to sneak in some Easter eggs and mysteries in its games. The mysteries of Grand Theft Auto 5 are still not fully solved, showing just how much time the company dedicates to these types of in-game secrets. As such, Red Dead Redemption 2 is also filled with secrets and mysteries to discover, and it even has its own mystery mountain similar to the one found in Grand Theft Auto 5.
To anyone who is familiar with Rockstar’s type of secrets, it’s clear the company enjoys sneaking in UFOs in its games. UFOs, and other mystery sightings, in Rockstar’s games have been a thing since at least Grand Theft Auto 4, and Red Dead Redemption 2 is just the latest game from the company to actually feature the objects as hidden Easter eggs. Naturally, players have to go through a series of riddles in order to activate the appearance of the UFO (although some of the riddles in Red Dead Redemption 2 are a bit easier than in Grand Theft Auto 5).
The unsolved mysteries of Mount Chiliad in Grand Theft Auto 5 draw some kind of connection with the mystery that revolves around Mount Shann in Red Dead Redemption 2, which pretty much means that fans are going to be dissecting the latter game for years to come, just as they did and are still doing with the former.
First UFO in Red Dead Redemption 2
In The Heartlands region of New Hanover, players can find a cabin called Hani’s Bethel. In it, players will also find a series of corpses in beds with one corpse, presumably the head figure of the cabin, facing his subjects. On the desk next to the dead leader, there is a piece of readable piece of paper titled “Mysterious Sermon” that makes reference to a savior named Kuhkowaba. The cabin is clearly meant to resemble some sort of abode for cultists, with the members having seemingly committed some sort of mass suicide ritual (probably).
The thing that gets the whole ball rolling on the Rockstar mystery of Red Dead Redemption 2's mountain is actually in this mysterious sermon. The letter has a line, “worship once again at the peak of Mount Shann,” which has led players to conduct investigations all around the mountain. For Hani’s Bethel though, the UFO connected to this cabin is actually fairly easy to experience and witness, as all players need to do is heed the letter and return “at the second hour under the half moon.”
Sure enough, if the player visits the cabin while there is a half moon (RDR2 has its own lunar cycles, among other little details) at two in the morning, a UFO will shine a bright light through the dilapidated cabin and hover over head for a few seconds before disappearing. The more mysterious aspect of this whole situation is Mount Shann’s role in all of it. Players have found a sundial (or altar) on Mount Shann which indicates that there is indeed more to this story, but no one seems to have figured out what its purpose is yet.
Upon closer inspection, there are even a set of arrows on certain rocks in the formation of the sundial (with one apparently pointing towards Hani’s Bethel). These could be pointing to times required for UFO sightings, but players have yet to confirm if this is the case. It’s possible that the arrows are pointing to map directions, but one little arrow pointing in a direction that spans huge swaths of land is not exactly the most helpful of clues.
Second UFO and a Possible Third
Interestingly enough, heading to the very tip of the peak of Mount Shann will actually grant the player an appearance by another UFO out in the distance (which obviously connects to the letter in Hani’s Bethel). It’s weird how the first part of the mystery is so easy to solve whereas the other parts are difficult (the cabin even has a collectible cigarette card, meaning Rockstar wasn’t even trying to hide the mystery). Although some players have claimed to have seen the third UFO, most players are still hard at work trying to figure out if it's real.
The lack of clarity is certainly reminiscent of the mystery surrounding Mount Chiliad in Grand Theft Auto 5. People have already gathered at least four different locations where UFOs can be seen in that game. In order for some UFOs to appear, the player must meet certain conditions though, such as completing the game at 100% and visiting while it’s raining, etc. These conditions could similarly be carried over into Red Dead Redemption 2, but nobody seems to have found anything else yet. There was a development in the mystery after a panoramic map was found in the Grizzly Mountains that seemed to connect some of these points of interest but has yet to be fully deciphered.
Red Dead Redemption 2 is available now.