7 best The X-Files episodes inspired by real-life stories

The X-Files is the story about Federal Bureau (FBI) agents Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), who is skeptical, and Fox Mulder (David Duchovny), who believes in the paranormal, as they solve unexplained cases for the government. The show first aired in 1993 on Fox and initially ran until 2002, then in 2016, for two seasons.

The franchise has also developed in the form of two films as well as two spin-offs. Chris Carter is the creator, and rumor has it that Ryan Coogler is working on another X-Files reboot.

Whereas the program depicted fictional stories, the majority of episodes were framed from realistic events in addition to urban legends. Scripts generally borrowed from sources such as infamous urban legends as well as true cases of serial killers. These episodes demonstrate how the show introduced reality to its storytelling in the form of convergence with the idea that “the truth is out there.”

Dreamland, Unrequited, and 5 other The X-Files episodes that took inspiration from real life

7) Triangle (Season 6; Ep. 3)

In Triangle, Mulder is transported to 1939 as he investigates the crew from the Queen Anne, which disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle during the middle of the Second World War under mysterious circumstances.

Once on the ship, Mulder is mistaken for a German operative and gets roped into the plot by the Nazis to depose the crew. In the present day, Scully is determined to search for him. Chris Carter created and directed the show.

The Bermuda Triangle is characterized as a location where many boats as well as aircraft have mysteriously gone lost, though the reasons remain controversial. The Queen Anne was a real ship that was sunk by a German submarine in the year 1943.

The episode is a combination of the science fiction method as done in the past, with references to The Wizard of Oz, therefore fitting into The X-Files canon.

6) The Erlenmeyer Flask (Season 1; Ep. 24)

In the Season 1 finale, The Erlenmeyer Flask, Deep Throat (Jerry Hardin) explains to Mulder that the government has experimented with alien DNA on human subjects. Scully, while researching, discovers an Erlenmeyer flask that is labeled for “Purity Control” and that is in connection to a doctor who is introduced in the first scene.

After being injured, the doctor is treated by paramedics who later die after being exposed to lethal poison while undertaking needle decompression surgery on the physician’s chest.

The series combined classic science fiction clichés and was inspired by a true medical case. A nurse named Gloria Ramirez was admitted to a hospital in 1994, where 23 workers lost consciousness, got nauseous, and were partially paralyzed.

There was no definite cause, although her autopsy suggested the use of the substance called dimethyl sulfoxide as an untraditional folk cure. Details from this case were instrumental in coming up with the plot thread about poisonous blood in this series’ episode.

5) Unrequited (Season 4; Ep. 16)

In Unrequited, Mulder and Scully investigate the murder of a high-ranking military official, leading them to Sergeant Nathaniel Teager (Peter LaCroix), a Vietnam War veteran and former prisoner of war. Teager, believed to have been left for dead, possesses the ability to make himself appear invisible and targets military officials responsible for abandoning operatives in Vietnam.

The investigation reveals a government conspiracy connected to missing personnel from the war. The episode, written by Chris Carter and Howard Gordon, draws inspiration from a segment on 60 Minutes about CIA operatives left behind after the Vietnam War. Unrequited also features a replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, incorporating elements related to the conflict and its veterans within the storyline.

4) Humbug (Season 2; Ep. 20)

In Humbug, Mulder and Scully travel to a small Florida town established and inhabited by sideshow performers to investigate the death of the Alligator-Skinned Man.

The investigation uncovers that the killer is Leonard, the detachable conjoined twin of Lanny (Vincent Schiavelli), who can separate himself from Lanny. Lanny believes Leonard is searching for a new twin. The episode was written by Darin Morgan.

Sideshows were prominent in the 1800s, and the Jim Rose Circus Sideshow helped revive them in the 1990s. This revival served as inspiration for Humbug, and several members of the sideshow, including Jim Rose himself, appear in the episode.

Rose portrays Dr. Blockhead, a performer known for body manipulation and pain endurance. The episode also references other notable sideshow performers from history.

3) Home (Season 4; Ep. 2)

Mulder and Scully travel to a small Pennsylvania village when a group of kids discovers the body of a baby suffering from serious birth defects. It brings them to the Peacock family: a woman and her three sons, all of whom are products of her inbreeding.

When the FBI takes an interest and starts investigating, the brothers attack violently, trying to silence their family secrets. This episode was written by Glen Morgan and James Wong.

It was developed from the real-life story of the Ward brothers, four brothers from New York whose family gained public attention when one of the brothers was accused of murder. It drew widespread speculation about incest within their family.

2) Tunguska (Season 4; Ep. 8)

In Tunguska, Mulder is alerted by Krycek (Nicholas Lea) and accompanies him to Tunguska, Russia, after hearing of a mysterious black oil dripping from a meteorite. They are arrested and thrown into a gulag, where prisoners, including Mulder, are dosed with the oil being extracted from the meteorite.

Scully and assistant director Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) are summoned to testify at a Senate hearing about the loss of Mulder. This episode was written by Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz. It refers back to the real Tunguska Event, which was a 1908 explosion blamed on a mysterious object.

This real-life event is what the title and location of the show are named after, and it is theorized by Mulder that the meteorite of the show was what caused the explosion. It was itself inspired by the meteorite known as the Allen Hills 84001 that was believed to hint at signs of extraterrestrial life.

1) Dreamland 1 & 2 (Season 6; Ep. 4 & 5)

In Dreamland, Scully and Mulder visit Area 51 and discover, after their men-in-black-like confrontation, that a spaceship has taken off into the sky. It is then learned that Mulder has traded bodies with one of the men, Morris Fletcher (Michael McKean).

None of the other men at the encounter realizes the switch. Fletcher assumes Mulder’s life, and Mulder seeks a solution to return to his own. This episode was written by Vince Gilligan.

Area 51 has been at the center of numerous UFO sightings and crash myths over the years and is a frequent setting used within popular culture.

All episodes of The X-Files are available to stream on Hulu.