The X-Files was an iconic show. Debuting in 1993, its unique blend of horror, mystery, and science fiction captivated audiences, along with the relationship between FBI agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully. Some episodes were fantastically out there, others a little closer to home. These are ten episodes that took inspiration from real life.
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1 – Space – Season 1 Episode 9
A childhood hero of Mulder’s, an astronaut appears to have been possessed by an extraterrestrial spirit that attached itself to him during a trip into outer space.
This episode was inspired by the ‘Face on Mars’ that appears on the Cydonia region of Mars. Officially, the face has been considered nothing more than an optical illusion, a case of pareidolia.
2 – The Erlenmeyer Flask - Season 1 Episode 24
Mulder and Scully discover the government experimentation with alien DNA, and those who have seen the evidence are being targeted for assassination. One character in the episode ends up in an ambulance, and when the paramedics perform a needle decompression, a poisonous gas is released from the body.
Gloria Ramirez was an unfortunate young woman admitted to the hospital with late-stage cervical cancer. While treating Gloria, several hospital workers suffered worrying symptoms after exposure to her blood, including fainting, muscle spasms and breathlessness; five were hospitalised. It has been theorised that Gloria was self-medicating with dimethyl sulfoxide to ease her pain; this reacted with other medication administered, converting it into dimethyl sulfate, a very poisonous alkylating agent.
3 – Irresistible – Season 2 Episode 13
Donnie Pfaster is a man who is obsessed with death; more specifically, he has a death fetish. After being dismissed from his job in a funeral parlour, he kidnaps and kills women to get his kicks. The character was later brought back in the season 7 episode, Orison, where he appeared as a shape-shifting demon.
Jeffrey Dahmer was a notorious cannibalistic serial killer who regularly committed acts of necrophilia. Attorney Gerald Boyle told jurors that Dahmer was “not an evil man, this was a sick man,” afflicted with the psychological disorder of necrophilia, a desire to have sex with the dead. There have been references to Dahmer seeing himself as a demon and surviving victims, saying he appeared to them as a demon (literally, not figuratively).
4 – Død Kalm – Season 2 Episode 19
Mulder and Scully are alerted to survivors of a U.S. Navy Destroyer that have inexplicably aged decades over just a few days. The FBI agents travel to Norway to investigate the case and soon find themselves in need of some anti-wrinkle cream.
For many years, there have been stories about The Philadelphia Experiment and rumours of the US Navy experimenting with invisibility. There are tales of the USS Eldridge actually disappearing for a few minutes, although it appeared not from invisibility but possibly time travel. When the USS Eldridge reappeared, some crew members had gone insane, and some had even become fused with the ship. A lot of this has been debunked, but it’s still fascinating.
5 – Humbug – Season 2 Episode 20
A community of former circus sideshow performers are targeted by a mysterious murderer who seems hell-bent on killing them all off. Mulder thinks the killer may be the ‘Fiji Mermaid’, but Scully points out that the mermaid was nothing more than a hoax.
Humbug takes inspiration from a few sources. The episode's writer, Darin Morgan, watched a recording of Jim Rose’s circus sideshow and even cast Jim Rose himself as Dr. Blockhead and performer The Enigma as The Conundrum. The Fiji Mermaid was a ‘real hoax’, or a ‘humbug’. Performer, ringleader, and general asshole P. T Barnum created the Fiji Mermaid, with the torso and head of a monkey sewn to the back half of a fish which was then advertised as real.
6 – Duane Barry – Season 2 Episode 29
Mulder finds himself in a hostage situation with an escaped psychiatric patient, Duane Barry. Duane tells Mulder he has been abducted by aliens numerous times, and he appears genuinely terrified of it happening again. Scully tried to warn Mulder; she discovered that Duane was an FBI who had suffered a gunshot to his frontal cortex. She believes this has changed his personality and caused him to become a pathological liar.
Duane Barry was loosely based on Phineas Gage, an American railroad construction foreman in the 1800s. There was an explosion, resulting in a large iron rod going through his head and seriously damaging his left frontal lobe. This caused a drastic change in his personality; Phineas went from a mild-mannered, polite, hard-working man to someone who drank, swore, and was unpleasant.
7 – Oubliette - Season 3 Episode 8
Amy is a teenager kidnapped from her bedroom in the middle of the night. She is hidden away, imprisoned by the kidnapper, who is a school photographer. Mulder finds a psychic connection between Amy and Lucy – a woman kidnapped by the same many years ago.
This episode took inspiration from the very sad story of Polly Klass. On Friday, 1st October 1993, 12-year-old Polly had a sleepover with two friends; her mother had gone to bed, and the girls were playing board games. At approximately 10.30 pm, Richard Allen Davis entered the house and walked into Polly’s bedroom while brandishing a knife. He tied the girls up and placed pillowcases over their heads before he kidnapped Polly. As soon as the girls believed he had left, they alerted Polly’s mother, who alerted the police. Sadly, it was too late when they found Polly weeks later. Davis had only been released on parole months earlier, after serving time for kidnap.
8 – Nisei/731 – Season 3 Episodes 9/10
In this two-part episode, Mulder and Scully investigate an alien autopsy Mulder believes is real. The more they investigate, the more they learn about Japanese involvement and some terrible experiments being performed secretly.
The episode was based on Unit 731 of the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II. The unit was the setting of atrocious human experiments, including deliberate infection, vivisection and forced pregnancies. The researchers were never punished in exchange for the data they gathered while working on these awful projects.
9 – Home – Season 4 Episode 2
It is possibly one of, if not the, most notorious episode of The X Files. Mulder and Scully are in a tiny town, Home in Pennsylvania, investigating the murder of a baby. The baby belonged to the Peacocks, a seriously deformed family of brothers who have been committing incest with their more than willing mother.
Although there are many stories of incestuous families throughout history, ‘Home’ is believed to be based on the Ward family. The Ward brothers lived on a basic farm without plumbing or heat and in absolute filth. There were rumours of incest, fuelled by two brothers sharing a bed – before one murdered the other. There is a complete documentary about them called Brother’s Keeper.
10 – Triangle – Season 6 Episode 3
A luxury passenger liner, Queen Anne, goes missing in the infamous Bermuda Triangle and 60 years later reappears: Mulder makes it his mission to discover what has happened. He finds himself on the ship – in the year 1939 - just as World War II is about to break out.
The Bermuda Triangle is in the Western part of the North Atlantic Ocean and is also known as The Devil’s Triangle. There have been many stories about ships and aircraft going missing in this region, including a ship called the Queen Anne in 1939.
As Mulder said, ‘The Truth is Out There’, and these episodes certainly remind us that the answers to the most intriguing mysteries can be just beyond our reach. Thanks for reading; take care of yourselves, and I will see you next time.
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