The X-Files (1993–…): Season 1, Episode 17 - E.B.E. - full transcript

Mulder and Scully become the focus of a disinformation campaign when they attempt to trace the government's secret transport of an alien life form.

Southern Crescent to Red Crescent.
We got a downed plane at camp perimeter.

We have nothing in the sky at this time.

We got something down here.
We're gonna check it out.

Medevac One, this is Red Crescent.

Southern Crescent
reports a downed aircraft in their area.

It's the Grand Ole Opry
on WSM Radio 650.

Brought to you by
Goody's Headache Powder.

When the night's been too long
and the party's been too hearty,

Goody's Headache Powder straightens
you right out. You have my word on that.

It was cigar-shaped,
red and green lights. Fast as hell!

I seen three of 'em fly over Chester County.



Six troopers were chasing 'em down 22.

I see one now! It's over the water tower!

I see it, too!

From the trucker's description, the shape
he fired at could have been a mountain lion.

Conceivably.

The National Weather Service
last night reported

atmospheric conditions in this area

possibly conducive to lightning.

Possibly.

It is feasible
that the truck was struck by lightning,

creating the electrical failure.

It's feasible.

And you know, there's a marsh over there.

Those lights the driver saw
may have been swamp gas.



- Swamp gas?
- It's a natural phenomenon.

Phosphine and methane
rising from decaying organic matter ignite,

creating globes of blue flame.

Happens to me when I eat Dodger Dogs.

How can a dozen witnesses,
including a squad of police vehicles,

become hysterical over swamp gas?

I've investigated multiple sightings.

Chesapeake Bay, the Okobogee Lake,
Area 51 in Nevada.

None had this much supporting evidence.

Anecdotal data, exhaust residue,
radiation levels five times the norm.

None of that evidence is conclusive.

The question is,
why was the truck driver singled out?

Isn't it more plausible

that an exhausted driver got swept up in
the hysteria and fired upon hallucinations?

After all, the road can play tricks on you.

Yeah, it can play tricks on you.

But not like this.

I started these stopwatches at the same time.

I don't know why they're holding me.

This "firing a weapon on a county road"
charge is a lot o' horse manure.

I'm a vet, and I know how to handle a gun.

Mr Ranheim,

can you elaborate on the report you filed
last night regarding your encounter?

It was round.

Like a saucer.

And... green and orange lights.

Last night you said it was
cigar-shaped and black.

I didn't ask for this to happen.

All I want is to deliver my shipment
of auto parts and forget...

Pardon me for asking,

but how long have you had that cough?

Why?

I'm just concerned.
You said you were a veteran.

- What's that got to do with this?
- The cough, the fever, the rash.

Those are symptoms of Gulf War Syndrome.

- I was never in the Gulf War.
- So, how long have you not been yourself?

Since the thing last night.

Mr Ranheim? I'm Police Chief Rivers.

Please, forgive the misunderstanding.
Your truck's been squared away. You may go.

- I'd like to examine the truck.
- That won't be necessary.

He had an alleged close encounter.
The truck will contain evidence.

- If I may...
- You've gotten all you're gonna get.

- We won't cooperate in your investigation.
- Why?

Just... go away.

Not... Not here.

Someone got to the police chief.
Ranheim was hiding something.

- Ranheim was sick.
- He became sick last night.

Excuse me, could I use your pen?

You think Gulf War Syndrome
is caused by UFOs?

UFOs are often witnessed by soldiers
during wartime.

Thanks.

Mulder, the only UFOs that soldiers are
likely to see are secret military aircraft.

That's what made soldiers in Iraq sick: Fuel or
exhaust of a classified aircraft or its weapon.

There is a base in Little Rock. You think
that's what the Air Force was flying?

They'd deny it. But it could possibly explain
how Ranheim developed the symptoms.

Possibly.

I'll talk to some people
when we get back to Washington.

The military won't discuss classified aircraft.

They're a government watchdog group.
They publish The Lone Gunman magazine.

They have information on
covert actions, classified weapons.

Some of their ideas are downright spooky.

Check it out, Mulder.

- I met the guy who shot John F Kennedy.
- Is that so?

Old dude now, but yeah. Says he was
dressed as a cop on the grassy knoll.

Mulder, listen to this. Vladimir Zhirinovsky,
leader of the Russian Social Democrats?

He's being put in power by
the most evil force of the century.

Barney?

The CIA.

Is this your sceptical partner?

She's hot.

The CIA, threatened by a loss of power
since the collapse of the Cold War,

wouldn't dream of having
the old enemy back?

You give the government too much credit.

- The government can't control a deficit...
- Lone Gunman.

What makes you think they can
plan an elaborate conspiracy?

- She is hot.
- Settle down, Frohike.

We're not talking about
a bunch of idiots up on the hill.

We're talking about a government within
a government, controlling our every move.

- How can they do that?
- How? I'll show you how. You got a $20 bill?

I'll check.

Hey!

That's just one method.
They use this magnetic strip to track you.

You pass through an airport metal detector
and they know exactly what you're carrying.

- It is a federal crime to deface money.
- The strip is an anti-counterfeiting measure.

Other countries put that strip on the outside.

OK! All right. What do you know
about the Gulf War Syndrome?

- Agent Orange of the '90s.
- Artillery shells made with depleted uranium.

Have you heard of classified planes
being flown during the Persian Gulf War?

Why expose a secret plane to an air force that
runs to Iran whenever you take to the air?

What about UFO activity during that period?

UFOs caused Gulf War Syndrome!
That's a good one!

Mulder, your ideas are weirder than ours!

Those were the most paranoid people
I have ever met.

How can you think that
what they say is remotely plausible?

It's remotely plausible
that someone might think you're hot.

Did you see the way
they answered the telephone?

They probably think every call they get is
monitored and they're followed everywhere.

It's a form of self-delusion. Makes them
think that what they do is important...

What's the matter?

Hello?

Pitchers and catchers
report for spring training this week.

Yeah. What are we doing here?!

Missed your calling, did you, Mr Mulder?

Maybe this year
we can catch a game at Candleton Yards.

Of course, we wouldn't be able to sit
together.

That's too bad. Something tells me you'd
have the connections to get great seats.

Yeah...

Any park in the country.

It's just a tourist.

In our line, nothing is just what it seems.

What am I on to? We go to investigate
a truck driver's encounter with a UFO.

Next thing, we discover electronic
surveillance equipment. Who's listening?

Why won't you tell me?

What am I on to?

A dangerous path.

The truck is bogus.
So's the truck driver, Ranheim.

First, I checked his manifest.

It listed a truck carrying 108 cartons
of auto parts weighing 3100 pounds.

I checked with three weigh stations along
his route. They have it listed at 5100 pounds.

There's something in that truck,
and it's not auto parts.

And, of course, nobody ever reported him.

And Ranheim lied to us
about being in the Gulf War.

His real name is Frank Druce.

And I worked hard to get this one.

He was Special Operations Black Beret
in Mosul, Northern Iraq.

Also, he didn't get sick
from the encounter the other night.

He's been to the VA hospital for treatments
three times in the past year.

We had it!

We had it and we let it go.

Four days ago,
an Iraqi Air Force pilot shot down a UFO.

The wreckage, and possibly the occupants,
were recovered by the Army.

Ranheim would be a perfect escort

for the wreckage, and/or bodies, out of Iraq
to a laboratory in the United States.

That would explain why the truck
weighed so much more than listed.

The military has, in the past,

transported dangerous materials and
weapons in unmarked trucks across the US.

- I sound like the The Lone Gunman guys.
- Where did you get this information?

Let's just say
it's a source with a deep background.

- I want to know all about him.
- He's guided us away from harm.

How do you know that?

We work for the FBI and we're being bugged.
What does that tell you?

That tells me that not everything
is as it appears to be.

Exactly! And for all we know, this deep
background is responsible for the bug.

He's never lied to me.

I won't break that confidence. I trust him.

Mulder, you're the only one I trust.

Then you're gonna have to trust me.

Did you find out where the truck is now?

Generally. It's heading west.

Towards Colorado.

We'll try to intercept it
and see what's on board.

I'll pick up a few things.
I'll meet you at your place in an hour. OK?

I cut the main breaker.

- You risk exposure coming here.
- What I have here is too important.

This photograph was taken
by an officer at Fort Benning, Georgia.

Seventeen UFOs were spotted in one hour.

Is that where the Iraqi wreckage
is being held?

Are UFOs monitoring the area?

Nice place you have here.

Wait. Wait... I-I... just want to...
take this opportunity to thank you.

You've helped my work so much, and
you've never asked for anything in return.

I know you've put yourself
at great risk to do so.

This is the best photographic evidence
I have ever seen.

When I saw the Gulf Breeze photos,
I knew they were a hoax.

But this is the quality of evidence
the government has amassed

at the highest classified levels.

The truck was a decoy
to keep anyone looking closely

away from Fort Benning,
where the Iraqi UFO is.

- We've got to leave for Georgia immediately.
- This photo is a fake.

What?

Look.

This soldier's shadow is allegedly created
by the lights from the UFO.

But it falls in a direction
contradictory to the craft's position.

There could be an off-camera light source
creating that shadow.

Look closely at the color of the light
reflected in the windshield.

It should be from the red lights of the UFO,
but it doesn't match the color.

There could be a tint in the windshield, or
it could be due to atmospheric conditions.

- Mulder, we should have it analyzed.
- You're determined not to believe him!

You're too determined to believe him!

I am determined to follow a lead

that may prove the existence
of extraterrestrial biological entities.

- Listen...
- No!

Will you just hear me?!

I have never met anyone so passionate
and dedicated to a belief as you.

It's so intense that sometimes it's blinding.

But there are others who are watching you,
who know what I know, and,

whereas I can respect and admire
your passion, they will use it against you.

Mulder, the truth is out there.

But so are lies.

Thank you.

I had the photo analyzed by the Bureau's
computers. It appears to be legitimate.

The photo-grain matches the pattern
and density... the color level, shading...

Then I noticed this.
It's the moon, half full.

I had the reflection in this window
enlarged by 25. There's the moon again.

A quarter full.

The window couldn't catch
the moon's reflection from that angle.

You were right, Scully. It's a fake.

He tried to deceive us.

Now we're alone on this.

There's no one we can trust.

They went to a lot of trouble
to put us on the wrong track.

There's something here
that no one's supposed to find.

Why didn't you leave for Fort Benning?

The photograph was a fake.

At least you're not insulting me further
by feigning appalled surprise.

On the contrary, I think a compliment is in
order. That photo was prepared by the best.

- I thought you were my ally.
- I am.

Imagine if Eisenhower told the Allies
that D-day would happen in Belgium.

Mr Mulder, I place my life in great jeopardy
every time we speak!

I've been a participant
in some of the most insidious lies

and witness to deeds
that no crazed man could imagine.

I've spent years watching you
from my... lofty position,

to know that you were the one I could trust.

- Then why did you lie to me?
- I needed to divert you.

You and Scully are excellent investigators,
and your motives are just.

However, there still exist some secrets
which should remain secret.

Truths that people are just not ready to know.

Who are you to decide that for me?

The world's reaction to such knowledge
would be far too dangerous.

Dangerous?
You mean, in the sense of outrage?

Like the reaction to
the Kennedy assassination, or MIAs,

or radiation experiments
on terminal patients. Watergate,

Iran Contra, Roswell, the Tuskegee
experiments... Where will it end?!

I guess it won't end, as long as
men like you decide what is truth.

That transcript you gave me of the Iraqi file -
that was the truth, wasn't it?

Why did you even bother to show it to me?

Well, I was aware that
you were on to the truck.

So I knew that down the road
I would have to steer you away,

that I would have to lie to you.

And a lie, Mr Mulder, is most convincingly
hidden between two truths.

Mulder!

If the shark stops swimming, it will die.

Don't stop swimming.

I'm not responsible
for the electronic surveillance,

but I do know they can still hear you.

Mulder!

Are you home?

Scully. Hey, I'm glad you dropped by.

I've been thinking about
this whole situation.

I think you're right. I think they won this one
and we should just move on.

I think this time you're right, Mulder.

All right, stick with him.

Hey!

Here you are. A round trip to Chicago.
Here's your credit card.

And the plane departs at Gate 35.

I'd also like a one-way ticket to Los Angeles,
with a stop in Las Vegas.

And for that I'll be paying cash.

I called every weigh station and
Bureau office west of Colorado.

I tied up an air phone for three hours.
I don't speak Japanese,

but I think a man told me to
stick some sushi where the sun don't shine!

My ear's numb from being on hold for hours.

At least we can be sure
they didn't trace our call.

I couldn't find the truck.
Did you have any luck?

Yup. It's heading northwest on l-90.

We have to get a couple of tickets to Seattle.

Think about it. This truck drove across
America. People have passed it on the road.

Probably thought it was hauling auto parts
or furniture, livestock, whatever...

Nobody would have suspected
it was hauling a craft from another world.

Here we go.

Mulder, we've been following
this truck for hours.

Maybe he knows we're following him
and he's taking an evasive route.

If that were the case...

- Are you all right?
- Yeah.

Ranheim!

Scully!

Oh, my God!

It was an extraterrestrial
biological entity - alive.

Where did it go?

I think we were just witness
to a rescue mission.

God, Mulder, I can't stop shaking.

What just happened - does it fit the profile?

You're asking me if it was real?

Did we just have a close encounter?

No. It was another hoax.

But how could anyone generate such force?

Whatever they used,
we probably haven't heard of it.

Sound weapons... Stealth helicopter
with an ultra-high intensity light...

There's no evidence that this was a UFO.

So they created this elaborate show
just to deflect us again.

Wouldn't it have been easier for them just...

Just to kill us.
Yeah, I've wondered that myself.

But maybe they're using me against myself,
like you said before.

That I want so badly to believe that I accept
the obvious conclusions and walk away.

Now we have nothing to go on.

No one to turn to.

There's still one player in all this
who hasn't lied to us.

But it's not quite someone we can turn to.

Leverlay and Priest Rapids?

East bank of the Columbia River.

Did you send out a field investigator?

And you can substantiate the sighting?

OK, Nick, thanks a lot.

I've contacted several organizations
that have hotlines for UFO reports.

The Center for UFO Studies in Chicago,

MUFON, NICAP. None of them have ever
reported a week of such activity.

It began in Tennessee,
where Ranheim was encountered.

The sightings follow the path of the truck.

And after last night's hoax...

Look at this.

Seven sightings in Mattawa, Washington.

- That's 100 miles away.
- Aliens?

Looks like they want their colleague back.

We've driven full circle
through Mattawa twice.

There's nothing here.

What's over there?

That's an intergalactic space greeting.

- It means "Hello, space brothers."
- Good.

- What's going on here?
- A UFO party.

- You've seen UFOs?
- Last two nights. They're drawn to electricity.

They hover over the power plant down there.

This is it. There's Ranheim.

This place has got to have
the highest level of security.

It's just the kind of challenge
they're looking for.

Who?

- Lone Gunman.
- It's Mulder. Turn the tape recorder off.

- OK. It's off.
- Turn it off!

It's off already!

How would you like to have

the first substantiated photo of
an extraterrestrial biological entity?

No way! An EBE?!
What do we have to do?

Hack me some identification numbers.

Braidwood and Stefoff.

Personal ID number?

7-5-9-3.

5-3-1-1.

Open the trunk, please.

Park in lot 4.

Thanks.

Hey, wait!

Display these at all times.

Proceed.

Langly said he couldn't gain access
to Level 6, so that's...

- We have to go back to get through that door.
- We'll look suspicious.

- We have to find other access, then.
- Mulder, they're not gonna let us!

- Could you folks come with me, please?
- We're lost...

- Just proceed down the hallway.
- If you...

Mulder. Stop.

We're agents for the FBI.
I'm reaching for my ID.

- We're conducting an investigation.
- Proceed down the hallway, please.

This is Level 2 to Level 6.

I have a male and a female
who've identified...

Hey! Stop!

Hold it!

He took the stairs! Go! Go!

Move! Move!

Hold it!

I said, hold it!

Whoa!

Let him go.

Let him go!

You've done well.

You're dismissed.

I know how badly

how... very badly
you want to look through that window.

But it would be pointless.

It's dead.

After the Roswell incident in 1947,

even at the brink of the Cold War,

there was an ultra-secret conference,
attended by the US,

the Soviet Union,
the People's Republic of China, Britain,

both Germanys, France...

And it was agreed that,

should any extraterrestrial
biological entities survive a crash,

the country that held that being
would be responsible for its extermination.

I...

have the distinction of being one of three
men to have exterminated such a creature.

I was with the CIA in Vietnam.

A UFO was sighted for five nights over Hanoi.

The Marines shot it down
and brought it to us.

Maybe... it didn't know what a gun was.

Or perhaps they don't show emotion.

But that

innocent and blank expression
as I pulled the trigger

has haunted me.

Until I found you.

That's why I come to you, Mr Mulder,

and will continue to come to you,

to atone for what I've done.

And maybe sometime,

through you, the truth will be known.

You're awfully quiet, Mr Mulder.

I'm wondering which lie to believe.