GTA 5's Black Cellphone Mystery Explained

Summary

Grand Theft Auto 5 has cheat codes that allow players to obtain weapons, ammo, vehicles, and alter gameplay elements like Wanted level.
The Black Cellphone cheat code triggers a small explosion above the player's head, leading to speculations and theories within the GTA community.
Some players believe that the Black Cellphone explosion is connected to UFOs and aliens in the game, while others have made connections to certain vehicles and missions. The mystery remains unsolved.

The Grand Theft Auto franchise is notorious for having cheat codes, and Grand Theft Auto 5 is no different. Just like in previous Grand Theft Auto games, players would use these GTA 5 cheat codes to instantly acquire weapons and ammo, armor, and vehicles (both land and air), and even lower their Wanted level to help them in their missions. Meanwhile, others use them to add fun and chaos to their gameplay, like Drunk Mode and Super Jump.

Just like any GTA game, Grand Theft Auto 5 also has an explosive cheat code called Black Cellphone. Unlike "Big Bang" in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, which blew up cars and motorbikes near the main character, Black Cellphone would detonate a small explosion above the player's head. This would usually be chalked off as a normal explosion that happens in the game, but many players believe that there might be something more behind this mysterious cheat code.

Decoding Grand Theft Auto 5's Black Cellphone

The Black Cellphone cheat code was originally discovered by dataminers back in 2016, and is one of the popular unsolved mysteries in Grand Theft Auto 5. Players can trigger this cheat by dialing 1-999-367-3767 (1-999-EMP-DROP) on their phone. The number will contact an anonymous person named Black Cellphones, which will later trigger a small explosion above the player's head. This works with all three main characters in the single-player campaign, but doesn't work in GTA Online. After the explosion, the phone's theme will be set from gray to all-black, and it will transform into a slightly bigger model.

An EMP, or an electromagnetic pulse explosive, is a high-altitude warhead designed to be detonated above the Earth's surface. It's said that a nuclear EMP blast could be approximately 10 megatons, which could cover the entirety of the United States and some parts of Mexico and Canada. Although the Black Cellphone explosion also happens in the sky, it's not as big as an actual EMP, which has led some Grand Theft Auto 5 players to believe that it could be a different kind of explosive.

One theory was that the explosion could be connected to UFOs in Grand Theft Auto 5. The game never shied away from the fact that aliens existed in its universe, as there's a side quest where Franklin is tasked to collect spaceship parts scattered across Los Santos. Grand Theft Auto Online also had a series of UFO invasions during its Halloween events. The Mount Chiliad mystery, which referred to mysterious markings found in San Andreas' highest point, was also linked to aliens and the Illuminati. These details have convinced players that dialing the Black Cellphone cheat code might have caused a spaceship (or a similar aircraft) to explode midair.

Black Cellphone has birthed several other theories within the GTA community. A Reddit post compiled possible references to Black Cellphone, which included the blue Albany Emperor that Lamar drives in the mission titled "Grass Roots - The Drag" because the Black Cellphone cheat code could also spell EMP-EROR. A similar blue car with a "BANG" text can be found at the Oeuvre Gallery. Additionally, it was reported that Black Cellphone could only be used in a mission called "Ojasaud." The problem was that it didn't exist, and was believed to be the name of an unreleased mission for a Grand Theft Auto 5 DLC or Grand Theft Auto Online.

The Black Cellphone mystery continues to stump GTA fans around the world. So far, Grand Theft Auto 5 hasn't directly addressed any of the theories surrounding it, nor revealed who Black Cellphones really was. It will be interesting to see if Black Cellphone will be referenced in future content or GTA 6, but hopefully Rockstar eventually gives longtime fans the answers they've been looking for.