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117-634: In the summer of 1947, pilot Kenneth Arnold reported seeing objects that would come to be called Flying saucers ; Arnold's report triggered a wave of copycat sightings. By 1949, authors like Frank Scully and Donald Keyhoe were suggesting that the Air Force knew more about the Saucers than they were publicly revealing. In 1952, amateur UFO researcher Albert K. Bender founded the International Flying Saucer Bureau ,

234-653: A "spinoff of the gospel according to Barker". Kenneth Arnold Kenneth Albert Arnold (March 29, 1915 – January 16, 1984) was an American aviator, businessman, and politician. Arnold is known best for reporting what is generally considered the first widely publicized modern sighting of an unidentified flying object (UFO) in the United States, after claiming to have seen nine silver-colored discs flying in unison near Mount Rainier , Washington on June 24, 1947. After his alleged sighting, Arnold began investigating reports of UFOs, writing and speaking about

351-525: A 1977 convention curated by the magazine Fate to mark the thirtieth anniversary of the beginning of the modern UFO age. In 1984, Kenneth Arnold, aged 68, died from colon cancer at Overlake Hospital in Bellevue, Washington . The X-Files The X-Files is an American science fiction drama television series created by Chris Carter . The original television series aired from September 1993 to May 2002 on Fox . During its original run,

468-724: A believer and Scully a skeptic. The first seven seasons featured Duchovny and Anderson relatively equally. In the eighth and ninth seasons, Anderson took precedence while Duchovny appeared intermittently. New main characters were introduced: FBI Special Agents John Doggett ( Robert Patrick ) and Monica Reyes ( Annabeth Gish ), among others. Mulder and Scully's immediate superior, Assistant Director Walter Skinner ( Mitch Pileggi ), began to appear regularly. The first five seasons of The X-Files were filmed in Vancouver , British Columbia , before production eventually moved to Los Angeles , apparently to accommodate Duchovny's schedule. However,

585-464: A chain reaction of mass hypnotism and fraud that has taken on the guise of a prolonged 'Martian Invasion' broadcast by that bizarre hambone Orson Welles". In 1952, Arnold and Palmer authored The Coming of the Saucers . Reportedly, Arnold came to believe he had experienced seven additional sightings, one of which involved a transparent saucer he likened to a jellyfish. By 1955, he began to promote space animal hypothesis when he suggested that

702-399: A chance to change things. The replacement shows various pictures of Scully's pregnancy. According to executive producer Frank Spotnitz , the sequence also features an "abstract" way of showing Mulder's absence in the eighth season: he falls into an eye. Season nine featured an entirely new sequence. Since Anderson wanted to move on, the sequence featured Reyes and Skinner. Duchovny's return to

819-438: A governmental agenda to hide positive proof of the existence of extraterrestrial life . Mulder and Scully's shared adventures initially lead them to develop a close platonic bond, which by series' end develops into a complex romantic relationship. Roughly one third of the series' episodes follow a complicated mythopoeia -driven story arc about a planned alien invasion, whereas the other two-thirds may be described as " monster of

936-419: A group of extraterrestrials that intends to destroy the human species. They are usually represented by Cigarette Smoking Man ( William B. Davis ), a ruthless killer, masterful politician, negotiator, failed novelist, and the series' principal antagonist. As the series goes along, Mulder and Scully learn about evidence of the alien invasion piece by piece. It is revealed that the extraterrestrials plan on using

1053-429: A list of the episodes that received alternate taglines is as follows: The pilot premiered on September 10, 1993, and reached 12 million viewers. As the season progressed, ratings began to increase and the season finale garnered 14 million viewers. The first season ranked 105th out of 128 shows during the 1993–94 television season. The series' second season increased in ratings—a trend that would continue for

1170-459: A lot of people do, to have the experience of witnessing a paranormal phenomenon. At the same time I want not to accept it, but to question it. I think those characters and those voices came out of that duality. —Chris Carter on creating the characters of Mulder and Scully. California native Chris Carter was given the opportunity to produce new shows for the Fox network in the early 1990s. Carter

1287-591: A preset sound called "Whistling Joe". After hearing this sound, Carter was "taken aback" and noted it was "going to be good". According to the "Behind the Truth" segment on the first season DVD, Snow created the echo effect on the track by accident. He felt that after several revisions, something still was not right. Carter walked out of the room and Snow put his hand and forearm on his keyboard in frustration. By doing so, he accidentally activated an echo effect setting. The resulting riff pleased Carter; Snow said, "this sound

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1404-496: A second location manager would be needed. The show remained in Vancouver for the first five seasons; production then shifted to Los Angeles beginning with the sixth season. Duchovny was unhappy over his geographical separation from his wife, Téa Leoni , although his discontent was popularly attributed to frustration with Vancouver's persistent rain. Anderson also wanted to return to the United States, and Carter relented following

1521-408: A sentient virus, known as the black oil (also known as "Purity"), to infect mankind and turn the population of the world into a slave race. The Syndicate—having made a deal to be spared by the aliens—have been working to develop an alien-human hybrid that will be able to withstand the effects of the black oil. The group has also been secretly working on a vaccine to overcome the black oil; this vaccine

1638-449: A series of nine, shiny unidentified flying objects flying past Mount Rainier at speeds that Arnold estimated at a minimum of 1,200 miles an hour (1,932 km/h). This was the first post- World War II sighting in the United States that garnered nationwide news coverage and is credited with being the first of the modern era of UFO sightings , including numerous reported sightings during the next two to three weeks. Arnold's description of

1755-436: A skilled criminal profiler , an ardent supernaturalist , and a conspiracy theorist who believes in the existence of the paranormal, whereas Scully is a medical doctor and skeptic who has been assigned to scientifically analyze Mulder's case files. Early in the series, both agents apparently become pawns in a much larger conflict and so come to trust only each other and a few select people. The agents discover what appears to be

1872-502: A split-screen image of a seed germinating and a "terror-filled, warped face". The latter was created when Carter found a video operator who was able to create the effect. The sequence was extremely popular and won the show its first Emmy Award, which was for Outstanding Graphic Design and Title Sequences. Producer Paul Rabwin was particularly pleased with the sequence, and felt that it was something that had "never [been] seen on television before". In 2017, James Charisma of Paste ranked

1989-520: Is a talented profiler , conspiracy theorist , and an ardent supernaturalist . He is also adamant about the existence of intelligent extraterrestrial life and its presence on Earth. This set of beliefs earns him the nickname "Spooky Mulder" and an assignment to a little-known department that deals with unsolved cases, the X-Files . His belief in the paranormal springs from the claimed abduction of his sister Samantha Mulder by extraterrestrials when Mulder

2106-439: Is found guilty and sentenced to death but escapes punishment with the help of the other agents, and he and Scully become fugitives. As the show progressed, key episodes, called parts of the " Mytharc ", were recognized as the "mythology" of the series canon; these episodes carried the extraterrestrial/conspiracy storyline that evolved throughout the series. " Monster of the week "—often abbreviated as "MOTW" or "MoW"—came to denote

2223-427: Is partnered with Mulder initially so that she can debunk Mulder's nonconforming theories, often supplying logical, scientific explanations for the cases' apparently unexplainable phenomena. Although she is frequently able to offer scientific alternatives to Mulder's deductions, she is rarely able to refute them completely. Over the course of the series, she becomes increasingly dissatisfied with her own ability to approach

2340-514: Is revealed in the latter parts of season five , as well as the 1998 film . Counter to the alien colonization effort, another faction of aliens, the faceless rebels, are working to stop alien colonization. Eventually, in the season six episodes " Two Fathers "/" One Son ", the rebels manage to destroy the Syndicate. The colonists, now without human liaisons, dispatch the " Super Soldiers ": beings that resemble humans, but are biologically alien. In

2457-528: The X-Files: I Want to Believe film proved successful at the box office, a third installment would be made going back to the TV series' mythology, focusing specifically on the alien invasion and colonization of Earth foretold in the ninth-season finale, due to occur on December 22, 2012 . In an October 2009 interview, David Duchovny likewise said he wanted to do a 2012 X-Files movie, but did not know if he would get

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2574-637: The "blackmen" after learning that UFOs were time-travelling vehicles. Barker later wrote to Sherwood, "Evidently the fans swallowed this one with a gulp." In 1962, Bender himself authored an account of the events, Flying Saucers and the Three Men , which described the "Men in Black" as supernatural, floating about the floor and emitting bluish light. The Knew Too Much About Flying Saucer influenced 1990s popular culture, most notably The X-Files and Men in Black films . One author would liken The X-Files to

2691-460: The "pilot episode" and hinting that he had got the job. The theme, " The X-Files ", used more instrumental sections than most dramas. The theme song's famous whistle effect was inspired by the track " How Soon Is Now? " from the US edition of The Smiths ' 1985 album Meat Is Murder . After attempting to craft the theme with different sound effects, Snow used a Proteus 2 rackmount sound module with

2808-403: The 1997–98 season. The sixth season premiered with " The Beginning ", watched by 20.24 million viewers. The show ended season six with lower numbers than the previous season, beginning a decline that would continue for the show's final three years. The X-Files was nevertheless Fox's highest-rated show that year . The seventh season, originally intended as the show's last, ranked as

2925-478: The 29th most-watched show for the 1999–2000 year, with 14.20 million viewers. This made it, at the time, the lowest-rated year of the show since the third season. The first episode of season eight, "Within", was viewed by 15.87 million viewers. The episode marked an 11% decrease from the seventh season opener, " The Sixth Extinction ". The first part of the ninth season opener, " Nothing Important Happened Today ", only attracted 10.6 million viewers,

3042-720: The Future was released. The crew intended the movie to be a continuation of the season five finale " The End ", but it was also meant to stand on its own. The season six premiere, "The Beginning", began where the film ended. The film was written by Carter and Spotnitz and directed by series regular Rob Bowman . In addition to Mulder, Scully, Skinner and Cigarette Smoking Man, it featured guest appearances by Martin Landau , Armin Mueller-Stahl and Blythe Danner , who appeared only in

3159-765: The IFSB. The book famously claimed Bender and other UFO investigators had been "silenced" by strange men in black suits. The work begins with Barker's initial interest in saucers during his 1952 investigation of the "Flatwoods Monster" and his subsequent saucer investigations in Brush Creek, California . Barker describes his interest in the Shaver Mystery and the magazines of Raymond Palmer , which ultimately led him to correspond with Albert K. Bender and join Bender's "International Flying Saucer Bureau. According to

3276-733: The Lambs , which provided the impetus for framing the series around agents from the FBI , in order to provide the characters with a more plausible reason for being involved in each case than Carter believed was present in Kolchak . Carter was determined to keep the relationship between the two leads strictly platonic, basing their interactions on the characters of Emma Peel and John Steed in The Avengers series. The early 1990s series Twin Peaks

3393-636: The Lost Ark , Rashomon , The Thing , The Boys from Brazil , The Silence of the Lambs and JFK as other influences. In addition, episodes written by Darin Morgan often referred to or referenced other films. Duchovny had worked in Los Angeles for three years prior to The X-Files , focusing on feature films. In 1993 his manager Melanie Green gave him the script for the pilot episode of The X-Files . Green and Duchovny were both convinced it

3510-662: The Men in Black may have been inspired by "contactee" George Adamski 's story of an encounter with FBI agents. According to the Skeptical Inquirer article "Gray Barker: My Friend, the Myth-Maker", there may have been "a grain of truth" to Barker's writings on the Men in Black, in that government agencies did attempt to discourage public interest in UFOs during the 1950s. However, Barker is thought to have greatly embellished

3627-421: The UFOs are "sort of like sky jellyfish". Arnold added: "My theory might sound funny, but just remember that there are a lot of things in nature that we don't know yet". In 1962, he argued "the so-called unidentified flying objects that have been seen in our atmosphere are not spaceships from another planet at all, but are groups and masses of living organisms that are as much a part of our atmosphere and space as

They Knew Too Much About Flying Saucers - Misplaced Pages Continue

3744-475: The actor was only pretending to be grumpy. Pileggi later realized he had been lucky that he had not been cast in one of the earlier roles, as he believed he would have appeared in only a single episode and would have missed the opportunity to play the recurring role. Before the seventh season aired, Duchovny filed a lawsuit against 20th Century Fox , claiming that Fox had undersold the rights to its own affiliates, thereby costing him huge sums of money. Eventually,

3861-400: The agents' efforts to uncover a government conspiracy that covers up the existence of extraterrestrials and their sinister collaboration with said government. Mysterious men constituting a shadow element within the U.S. government , known as " The Syndicate ", are the major villains in the series; late in the series it is revealed that The Syndicate acts as the only liaison between mankind and

3978-561: The alien invasion foretold within the series, due to occur in December 2012. The film grossed $ 4 million on its opening day in the United States. It opened fourth on the U.S. weekend box office chart, with a gross of $ 10.2 million. By the end of its theatrical run, it had grossed $ 20,982,478 domestically and an additional $ 47,373,805 internationally, for a total worldwide gross of $ 68,369,434. Among 2008 domestic releases, it finished in 114th place. The film's stars both claimed that

4095-531: The best-seller lists in 1956. Conspiracism scholar Michael Barkun writes that the book's 'Men in Black' "quickly became a staple of UFO folklore". Historian Aaron Gulyas, describing the book as "one of the few saucer books I can read over and over again", noted that "during the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, UFO conspiracy theorists would incorporate the MIB into their increasingly complex and paranoid visions." Folklore historian Curtis Peebles suggests that Barker's tale of

4212-458: The cases scientifically. After Mulder's abduction at the hands of aliens in the seventh season finale " Requiem ", Scully becomes a "reluctant believer" who manages to explain the paranormal with science. Various episodes also deal with the relationship between Mulder and Scully, originally platonic, but that later develops romantically. Mulder and Scully are joined by John Doggett ( Robert Patrick ) and Monica Reyes ( Annabeth Gish ) late in

4329-675: The chance. Anderson stated in August 2012 that a third X-Files film is "looking pretty good". As of July 2013, Fox had not approved the movie, although Carter, Spotnitz, Duchovny and Anderson expressed interest. At the New York Comic Con held October 10–13, 2013, Duchovny and Anderson reaffirmed that they and Carter were interested in making a third film, with Anderson saying, "If it takes fan encouragement to get Fox interested in that, then I guess that's what it would be." On January 17, 2015, Fox confirmed that they were looking at

4446-461: The characters, those that dealt with the conspiracy, and the monster-of-the-week sort of stuff". Petrucha cited the latter as the easiest to write. Petrucha saw Scully as a "scientist [...] with real world faith", and that the difference between [Mulder and Scully] is not that Mulder believes and Scully doesn't; it's more a difference in procedure." In this manner, Mulder's viewpoint was often written to be just as valid as Scully's, and Scully's science

4563-777: The claims of Samuel Eaton Thompson , one of the first alleged contactees). In spring 1948, Arnold and Science Fiction editor Raymond Palmer collaborated on an article titled "I Did See The Flying Disks", based on Arnold's sighting. In 1950, Arnold self-published a 16-page booklet titled "The Flying Saucer As I Saw It". In 1948, he authored "Are Space Visitors Here?" and "Phantom Lights in Nevada". On April 7, 1950, broadcaster Edward R. Murrow interviewed Arnold, who stated that since June 1947 he had had three additional sightings of nine spacecraft. In January 1951, Cosmopolitan magazine published an article titled "The Disgraceful Flying Saucer Hoax", which accused Arnold of "[igniting]

4680-520: The concept and returned a few weeks later, whereupon they commissioned the pilot. Carter worked with NYPD Blue producer Daniel Sackheim to further develop the pilot, drawing stylistic inspiration from the 1988 documentary The Thin Blue Line and the British television series Prime Suspect . Inspiration also came from Carter's memories of The Twilight Zone as well as from The Silence of

4797-498: The correct color balance. The Lone Gunmen is an American science fiction television series created by Carter and broadcast on Fox and was crafted as a more humorous spin-off of The X-Files . The series starred the eponymous Lone Gunmen and was first broadcast in March 2001, during The X-Files ' s month-long hiatus. Although the debut episode garnered 13.23 million viewers, its ratings began to steadily drop. The program

They Knew Too Much About Flying Saucers - Misplaced Pages Continue

4914-458: The craft emitted a substance resembling lava rocks that fell onto his boat, breaking a worker's arm and killing a dog. Arnold interviewed Fred Crisman , an associate of the harborman, who reported having recovered debris from Maury Island in Puget Sound and having witnessed an unusual craft. Crisman showed "white metal" debris to Arnold, who interpreted it as mundane and inconsistent with

5031-458: The episode was chosen and anecdotes from the set. These clips were later included on the full season DVDs. Wave eight, covering the last part of the fourth season, was the last to be released. No Carter interviews appeared on DVDs for later seasons. Many of the waves had collectible cards for each episode. All nine seasons were released on DVD along with the two films. Seasons 1-4 were in fullscreen and seasons 5 and onward were in widescreen with

5148-473: The facts of the situation. In the same Skeptical Inquirer article, Sherwood revealed that, in the late 1960s, he and Barker collaborated on a brief fictional notice alluding to the Men in Black, which was published as fact first in Raymond A. Palmer 's Flying Saucers magazine and some of Barker's own publications. In the story, Sherwood (writing as "Dr. Richard H. Pratt") claimed he was ordered to silence by

5265-517: The fast percussion featured in some tracks was inspired by the track "Prospectors Quartet" from the There Will Be Blood soundtrack. The soundtrack score, The X-Files: I Want to Believe , was released in 2008. The opening sequence was made in 1993 for the first season, and remained unchanged until Duchovny left the show. Carter sought to make the title an "impactful opening" with "supernatural images". These scenes notably include

5382-450: The fifth season. The season ended in May 1998 with "The End", the final episode shot in Vancouver and the final episode with the involvement of many of the original crew members, including director and producer R.W. Goodwin and his wife Sheila Larken, who played Margaret Scully and would later return briefly. With the move to Los Angeles, many changes behind the scenes occurred, as much of

5499-415: The film a positive review, with an average rating of 4.9 out of 10. The website wrote of the critics' consensus, stating, "The chemistry between leads David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson do live [sic] up to The X-Files ' televised legacy, but the roving plot and droning routines make it hard to identify just what we're meant to believe in." In several interviews around the release, Carter said that if

5616-408: The film as independent of the series, saying, "We're looking at the movies as stand-alones. They're not necessarily going to have to deal with the mythology." Bowman, who had directed various episodes of The X-Files in the past as well as the 1998 film, expressed an interest in the sequel, but Carter took the job. Spotnitz co-authored the script with Carter. The X-Files: I Want to Believe became

5733-400: The film. In November 2001, Carter decided to pursue a second film adaptation. Production was slated to begin after the ninth season, with a projected release in December 2003. In April 2002, Carter reiterated his desire and the studio's desire to do a sequel film. He planned to write the script over the summer and begin production in spring or summer 2003 for a 2004 release. Carter described

5850-495: The film. It also featured the last appearance of John Neville as the Well-Manicured Man . Jeffrey Spender , Diana Fowley , Alex Krycek and Gibson Praise —characters who had been introduced in the fifth-season finale and/or were integral to the television series—do not appear in the film. Although the film had a strong domestic opening and received mostly positive reviews from critics, attendance dropped sharply after

5967-406: The first film was made available in 2007, which contains all of the special features from the initial releases. The set also includes an additional disc of new bonus features and various collectibles, including a poster for the first film, a comic book, a set of collector cards and a guide to all 202 episodes across all nine seasons and the first film. Due to the fact that the set was released in 2007,

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6084-647: The first film, The X-Files: Original Motion Picture Score , was released in 1998. For the second film, Snow recorded with the Hollywood Studio Symphony in May 2008 at the Newman Scoring Stage at 20th Century Fox in Century City . UNKLE recorded a new version of the theme music for the end credits. Some of the unusual sounds were created by a variation of silly putty and dimes tucked into piano strings. Snow commented that

6201-506: The first half of the first season: "Pilot"/"Deep Throat", "Conduit"/"Ice" and "Fallen Angel"/"Eve". Each wave was also available in a boxed set. Unlike later DVD season releases, the tapes did not include every episode from the seasons. Ultimately twelve episodes—approximately half the total number aired—were selected by Carter to represent each season, including nearly all "mythology arc" episodes and selected standalone episodes. Carter briefly introduced each episode with an explanation of why

6318-539: The first major civilian UFO club. Gray Barker was a member. In October 1953, the group published the final issue of its newsletter, announcing the disbanding of the organization. The final issue reported that "The mystery of the flying saucers is no longer a mystery. The source is already known, but any information about this is being withheld by orders from a higher source." In April 1956, University Books of New York City published They Knew Too Much About Flying Saucers , Barker's dramatized account of his involvement with

6435-600: The first time that the series has been made available in the high resolution format in North America. In October 2015, it was confirmed that the complete series would be reissued on Blu-ray, and the full set was released on December 8, 2015. The set was criticized for using the wrong fonts for the title sequence and season 8 was affected by color balance issues making the picture appear darker in most episodes (an issue known as "black crush"). These issues led to Fox offering corrected discs and eventually issuing new sets with

6552-415: The first weekend. Although it failed to make a profit during its theatrical release—due in part to its large promotional budget— The X-Files film was more successful internationally. Eventually, the worldwide theatrical box office total reached $ 189 million. The film's production cost and ad budgets were each close to $ 66 million. Unlike in the series, Anderson and Duchovny received equal pay for

6669-409: The future is unwritten." The rights are now owned by Disney . On September 24, 1996, the first "wave" set of The X-Files VHS tapes were released. Wave sets were released covering the first through fourth seasons. Each "wave" was three VHS tapes, each containing two episodes, for a total of six episodes per wave and two waves per season. For example, the home video release of wave one drew from

6786-617: The harborman's description. Arnold contacted the Air Force, and two officers arrived to investigate. The officers performed interviews, collected the fragments, and took off in their airplane. While returning to their base in California, during the early hours of August 1, the two officers died when the B-25 Mitchell airplane they were piloting crashed outside of Kelso, Washington. Writing in 1956, Air Force officer Edward J. Ruppelt would conclude "The whole Maury Island Mystery

6903-409: The highest-rated episode of The X-Files to air since the eighth-season episode " This Is Not Happening " in 2001, which was watched by 16.9 million viewers. When DVR and streaming are taken into account, "My Struggle" was seen by 21.4 million viewers, scoring a 7.1 Nielsen rating. The season ended with "My Struggle II", which was viewed by 7.60 million viewers. In total, the season

7020-512: The latter parts of season eight , and the whole of season nine , the Super Soldiers manage to replace key individuals in the government, forcing Mulder and Scully to go into hiding. Mulder and Scully came right out of my head. A dichotomy. They are the equal parts of my desire to believe in something and my inability to believe in something. My skepticism and my faith. And the writing of the characters came very easily to me. I want, like

7137-453: The lawsuit was settled, and Duchovny was awarded a settlement of about $ 20 million, but the lawsuit put strain on Duchovny's professional relationships. Neither Carter nor Duchovny was contracted to work on the series beyond the seventh season; however, Fox entered into negotiations near the end of that season in order to bring the two on board for an eighth season. After settling his contract dispute, Duchovny quit full-time participation in

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7254-507: The life we find in the oceans". In 1962, Kenneth Arnold announced plans to campaign for Governor of Idaho, and won the Republican nomination for the 1962 Idaho lieutenant gubernatorial election ; in the election, Arnold lost to incumbent Democrat W. E. Drevlow . In 1964, Arnold publicly campaigned for Republican presidential nominee Barry Goldwater , flying an airplane painted with Goldwater '64 slogan "Au-H2O-64". He appeared at

7371-451: The main antagonist. During the early stages of production, Carter founded Ten Thirteen Productions and began to plan for filming the pilot in Los Angeles. However, unable to find suitable locations for many scenes, he decided to "go where the good forests are" and moved production to Vancouver . It was soon realized by the production crew that since so much of the first season would require filming on location, rather than on sound stages,

7488-416: The main factor. At the end of 2002, The X-Files had become the longest-running consecutive science fiction series ever on U.S. broadcast television. This record was later surpassed by Stargate SG-1 in 2007 and Smallville in 2011. The debut episode of the 2016 revival, "My Struggle", first aired on January 24, 2016, and was watched by 16.19 million viewers. In terms of viewers, this made it

7605-586: The men warns Bender: "I suppose you know you are on your honor as an American. If I hear another word out of your office you're in trouble". Barker recounts the 1947 tale of the Maury Island incident , where an alleged saucer witness claimed to have been warned not to discuss the incident by a man in a black suit. Barker speculates saucers may be linked to Antarctica or poltergeists. Barker lists others he believes have been "shushed", some in other countries. They Knew Too Much About Flying Saucers briefly made

7722-423: The narrative, Bender receives a metal sample allegedly from a UFO, after which he is visited by three men, each wearing black, who confiscate back issues of the group's newsletter. Bender recalls that one of the men told Barker his research was pointless, claiming "In our government we have the smartest men in the country. They can't find a defense for it. How can you do anything about it?" Before they depart, one of

7839-448: The next three seasons—and finished 63rd out of 141 shows. These ratings were not spectacular, but the series had attracted enough fans to receive the label "cult hit", particularly by Fox standards. Most importantly, it made great gains among the 18-to-49 age demographic sought by advertisers. During its third year , the series ranked 55th and was viewed by an average of 15.40 million viewers, an increase of almost seven percent over

7956-418: The ninth season, Carter said, "We lost our audience on the first episode. It's like the audience had gone away and I didn't know how to find them. I didn't want to work to get them back because I believed what we are doing deserved to have them back." While news outlets cited declining ratings because of lackluster stories and poor writing, The X-Files production crew blamed September 11 terrorist attacks as

8073-457: The ninth season, Gish became a series regular. Glen Morgan and James Wong 's early influence on The X-Files mythology led to their introduction of popular secondary characters who continued for years in episodes written by others: Scully's father, William ( Don S. Davis ); her mother, Margaret ( Sheila Larken ); and her sister, Melissa ( Melinda McGraw ). The conspiracy-inspired trio The Lone Gunmen were also secondary characters. The trio

8190-455: The objects also resulted in the press soon inventing the terms flying saucer and flying disc as popular descriptive terms for UFOs. After the 1947 UFO sighting, Arnold became famous "practically overnight". Arnold's daughter would later recall the family receiving 10,000 letters and constant telephone calls. Arnold was contacted by Raymond A. Palmer , editor of science fiction magazine Amazing Stories , who asked Arnold to investigate

8307-422: The original The X-Files crew was gone. New production designer Corey Kaplan, editor Lynne Willingham , writer David Amann and director and producer Michael Watkins joined and stayed for several years. Bill Roe became the show's new director of photography and episodes generally had a drier, brighter look due to California's sunshine and climate, as compared with Vancouver's rain, fog and temperate forests. Early in

8424-557: The original versions. Episodic DVDs have also been released in Region 2 , such as " Deadalive ", " Existence ", "Nothing Important Happened Today", " Providence " and "The Truth". Various other episodes were released on DVD and VHS. In 2005, four DVD sets were released containing the main story arc episodes of The X-Files . The four being Volume 1 – Abduction , Volume 2 – Black Oil , Volume 3 – Colonization and Volume 4 – Super Soldiers . A boxed set containing all nine seasons and

8541-408: The part of Scully in 1993. "I couldn't put the script down", she recalled. For the role, the network wanted either a more established actress or one that was "taller, leggier, blonder and breastier" than the 24-year-old Anderson, a theater veteran with minor film experience. After auditions, Carter felt she was the only choice. Carter insisted that Anderson had the kind of "no-nonsense integrity that

8658-418: The possibility of bringing The X-Files back, not as a movie, but as a limited run television season. Fox chairman Dana Walden told reporters that "conversations so far have only been logistical and are in very early stages", and that the series would only go forward if Carter, Anderson, and Duchovny were all on board, and that it was a matter of ensuring all of their timetables are open. On March 24, 2015, it

8775-399: The program spanned nine seasons, with 202 episodes . A short tenth season consisting of six episodes ran from January to February 2016. Following the ratings success of this revival, The X-Files returned for an eleventh season of ten episodes, which ran from January to March 2018. In addition to the television series, two feature films have been released: the 1998 film The X-Files and

8892-533: The remainder of The X-Files episodes. These episodes, forming the majority of the series, dealt with paranormal (and in certain cases, merely criminal) phenomena, including: serial killers (with or without supernatural powers), cryptids , ghosts , mutants, science fiction technology, horror monsters and religious phenomena. Some of the Monster-of-the-Week episodes even featured satiric elements and comedic story lines. The main story arc involves

9009-405: The role of Doggett, but only about ten were seriously considered. Lou Diamond Phillips , Hart Bochner , and Bruce Campbell were among the ten. The producers chose Robert Patrick. Carter believed that the series could continue for another ten years with new leads, and the opening credits were accordingly redesigned in both seasons eight and nine to emphasize the new actors (along with Pileggi, who

9126-485: The role required." For portraying Scully, Anderson won numerous major awards: the Screen Actors Guild Award in 1996 and 1997, an Emmy Award in 1997, and a Golden Globe Award 1997. The character Walter Skinner was played by actor Mitch Pileggi , who had unsuccessfully auditioned for the roles of two or three other characters on The X-Files before getting the part. At first, the fact that he

9243-428: The second film based on the series, after 1998's The X-Files: Fight the Future . Filming began in December 2007 in Vancouver and finished on March 11, 2008. The film was released in the United States on July 25, 2008. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly , Carter said that if I Want to Believe proved successful, he would propose a third movie that would return to the television series' mythology and focus on

9360-427: The second film, which was released in 2008, is not included. Release of The X-Files ' seasons on Blu-ray , restored in high-definition, was rumored to begin in late 2013. The German TV channel ProSieben Maxx began airing first-season episodes reformatted in widescreen and in high-definition on January 20, 2014. On April 23, 2015, Netflix began streaming episodes of The X-Files in high definition, marking

9477-414: The second season, making it Fox's top-rated program in the 18–49-year-old demographic. Although the first three episodes of the fourth season aired on Friday night, the fourth episode " Unruhe " aired on Sunday night. The show remained on Sunday until its end. The season hit a high with its twelfth episode, " Leonard Betts ", which was chosen as the lead-out program following Super Bowl XXXI . The episode

9594-535: The series itself and lead actors Duchovny and Anderson received multiple awards and nominations , and by its conclusion the show was the longest-running science fiction series in U.S. television history. The series also spawned a franchise that includes Millennium and The Lone Gunmen spin-offs, two theatrical films, and accompanying merchandise . The X-Files follows the careers and personal lives of FBI Special Agents Fox Mulder ( David Duchovny ) and Dana Scully ( Gillian Anderson ). Special Agent Mulder

9711-491: The series later returned to Vancouver with the filming of The X-Files: I Want to Believe as well as the tenth and eleventh seasons. The X-Files was a hit for the Fox network and received largely positive reviews, although its long-term story arc was criticized near the conclusion. Initially considered a cult series, it turned into a pop culture touchstone that tapped into public mistrust of governments and large institutions and embraced conspiracy theories and spirituality. Both

9828-399: The series' lowest-rated season premiere. The original series finale , "The Truth", attracted 13.25 million viewers, the series' lowest rated season finale. The ninth season was the 63rd most-watched show for the 2001–02 season, tying its season two rank. On May 19, 2002, the finale aired and the Fox network confirmed that The X-Files was over. When talking about the beginning of

9945-422: The series, after Mulder is abducted. Doggett replaces him as Scully's partner and helps her search for him, later involving Reyes, of whom Doggett had professional knowledge. The initial run of The X-Files ends when Mulder is secretly subjected to a military tribunal for breaking into the top secret Mount Weather Emergency Operations Center and viewing plans for alien invasion and colonization of Earth . He

10062-466: The show after the seventh season. This contributed to uncertainties over the likelihood of an eighth season. Carter and most fans felt the show was at its natural endpoint with Duchovny's departure, but it was decided that Mulder would be abducted at the end of the seventh season and would return in 12 episodes the following year. The producers then announced that a new character, John Doggett, would fill Mulder's role. More than 100 actors auditioned for

10179-612: The show continuing without Anderson. In May 2018, Fox's co-CEO Gary Newman commented that "there are no plans to do another season at the moment." In October 2020, Chris Carter said: "I always thought there would be even more X-Files ." He admitted that continuing the series at this point with Duchovny and Anderson is unlikely, but has plans to continue the franchise with an upcoming animated spinoff. "Being that Gillian has decided to move on with her career, we certainly couldn't do Mulder and Scully again. But that's not to say there isn't another way to do The X-Files . And so right now I think

10296-408: The show for the ninth-season finale, " The Truth " marked the largest number of cast members to be featured in the opening credits, with five. The revival seasons use the series' original opening credits sequence. The sequence ends with the tagline "The Truth Is Out There", which is used for the majority of the episodes. For certain episodes, the tagline was changed to be more thematically-relevant;

10413-436: The show's opening sequence #8 on a list of The 75 Best TV Title Sequences of All Time . The premiere episode of season eight, "Within", revealed the first major change to the opening credits. Along with Patrick, the sequence used new images and updated photos for Duchovny and Anderson, although Duchovny only appears in the opening credits when he appears in an episode. Carter and the production staff saw Duchovny's departure as

10530-431: The show. The season concluded with "My Struggle IV", which was seen by 3.43 million viewers, which was also a decrease from the previous season. "My Struggle IV", which became the de facto finale for the series, was also the show's lowest-rated finale. In total, the season was viewed by an average of 5.34 million viewers, and it ranked as the 91st most-watched television series of the 2018–19 year. According to

10647-516: The sixth season, the producers took advantage of the new location, setting the show in new parts of the country. For example, Vince Gilligan's "Drive" , about a man subject to an unexplained illness, was a frenetic action episode, unusual for The X-Files largely because it was set in Nevada 's stark desert roads. The "Dreamland" two-part episode was also set in Nevada, this time in Area 51 . The episode

10764-399: The stand-alone film The X-Files: I Want to Believe , released in 2008, six years after the original television run ended. The series revolves around Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Special Agents Fox Mulder ( David Duchovny ) and Dana Scully ( Gillian Anderson ), who investigate the eponymous " X-Files ": marginalized, unsolved cases involving paranormal phenomena. Mulder is

10881-504: The story of two harbormen in Tacoma who reportedly possessed fragments of a "flying saucer". Palmer sent $ 200 to fund the investigation. On July 29, Arnold interviewed a harborman who claimed that one of the objects "began spewing forth what seemed like thousands of newspapers from somewhere on the inside of its center. These newspapers, which turned out to be a white type of very light weight metal, fluttered to earth". The harborman claimed

10998-413: The streaming aggregator JustWatch , The X-Files was the ninth most streamed television series across all platforms in the United States, during the week ending November 7, 2021. After several successful seasons, Carter wanted to tell the story of the series on a wider scale, which ultimately turned into a feature film. He later explained that the main problem was to create a story that would not require

11115-424: The timing of the movie's release, a week after the highly popular Batman film The Dark Knight , negatively affected its success. The film received mixed to negative reviews. Metacritic , which assigns a rating out of 100 reviews from mainstream film critics, reported "mixed or average" reviews, with an average score of 47 based on 33 reviews. Rotten Tomatoes reported that 32% of 160 listed film critics gave

11232-420: The top and bottom of the opening credits cropped off. It is not widely known how accurate this is to the original broadcasts. The entire series was re-released on DVD in early 2006, in a "slimmer" package. The first five slim case versions did not come with some bonus materials that were featured in the original fold-out versions. However, seasons six, seven, eight and nine all contained the bonus materials found in

11349-629: The topic for several years afterward. In 1962, Arnold won the Republican Party's nomination for Lieutenant Governor of Idaho , losing the election of the same year . Arnold was born on March 29, 1915, in Sebeka, Minnesota . He grew up in Scobey, Montana . He was an Eagle Scout and all-state football player in high school. He attended the University of Minnesota in 1934–35. His family

11466-411: The viewer to be familiar with the broadcast series. The movie was filmed in the hiatus between the show's fourth and fifth seasons and re-shoots were conducted during the filming of the show's fifth season. Due to the demands on the actors' schedules, some episodes of the fifth season focused on just one of the two leads. On June 19, 1998, the eponymous The X-Files , also known as The X-Files: Fight

11583-500: The week " episodes that focus on a singular villain, mutant, or monster. The X-Files was inspired by earlier television series featuring elements of suspense, horror, and speculative science fiction, including The Twilight Zone , Night Gallery , Tales from the Darkside , Twin Peaks , and especially Kolchak: The Night Stalker . When creating the main characters, Carter sought to reverse gender stereotypes by making Mulder

11700-492: Was 12. Her abduction drives Mulder throughout most of the series. Because of this, as well as more nebulous desires for vindication and the revelation of truths kept hidden by human authorities, Mulder struggles to maintain objectivity in his investigations. Special Agent Scully is a foil for Mulder in this regard. As a medical doctor and natural skeptic, Scully approaches cases with complete detachment, even when Mulder, despite his considerable training, loses his objectivity. She

11817-445: Was a good script so he auditioned for the lead. Duchovny's audition was "terrific", though he talked rather slowly. While the casting director of the show was very positive toward him, Carter thought that he was not particularly intelligent. He asked Duchovny if he could "please" imagine himself as an FBI agent in "future" episodes. Duchovny, however, turned out to be one of the best-read people that Carter knew. Anderson auditioned for

11934-530: Was a hoax. The first, possibly the second-best, and the dirtiest hoax in the UFO history." Ruppelt observed: The government had thought seriously of prosecuting the men. At the last minute it was decided, after talking to the two men, that the hoax was a harmless joke that had mushroomed, and that the loss of two lives and a B-25 could not be directly blamed on the two men. Arnold was involved with interviewing other UFO witnesses or contactees (notably, he investigated

12051-681: Was a major influence on the show's dark atmosphere and its often surreal blend of drama and irony. Duchovny had appeared as a transgender DEA agent in Twin Peaks and the Mulder character was seen as a parallel to that show's FBI Agent Dale Cooper . The producers and writers cited All the President's Men , Three Days of the Condor , Close Encounters of the Third Kind , Raiders of

12168-454: Was announced that The X-Files would return to comic book form with " Season 10 ", now published by IDW . The series, which follows Mulder and Scully after the events of The X-Files: I Want to Believe , was released in June 2013. Joe Harris wrote the series, and Michael Walsh and Jordie Bellaire provided the artwork. It was later announced that Carter himself would be the executive producer for

12285-466: Was asked back to audition for the recurring role slightly puzzled him, until he discovered the reason he had not previously been cast in those roles—Carter had been unable to envision Pileggi as any of those characters, because the actor had been shaving his head. When Pileggi auditioned for Walter Skinner, he had been in a grumpy mood and had allowed his small amount of hair to grow. His attitude fit well with Skinner's character, causing Carter to assume that

12402-630: Was cancelled after thirteen episodes. The last episode was broadcast in June 2001 and ended on a cliffhanger which was partially resolved in a ninth-season episode of The X-Files titled " Jump the Shark ", included in the DVD release of the series. The X-Files was converted into a comic book series published by Topps Comics during the show's third and fourth seasons. The initial comic books were written solely by Stefan Petrucha . According to Petrucha, there were three types of stories: "those that dealt with

12519-406: Was composed by Mark Snow , who got involved with The X-Files through his friendship with executive producer Goodwin. Initially Carter had no candidates. A little over a dozen people were considered, but Goodwin continued to press for Snow, who auditioned around three times with no sign from the production staff as to whether they wanted him. One day, however, Snow's agent called him, talking about

12636-511: Was confirmed the series would return with series creator Chris Carter and lead actors David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson. It premiered on January 24, 2016. A year later, on April 20, 2017, Fox officially announced that The X-Files would be returning for an eleventh season of ten episodes, which premiered on January 3, 2018. In January 2018, Gillian Anderson confirmed that season 11 would be her final season of The X-Files . The following month, Carter stated in an interview that he could see

12753-457: Was finally listed as a main character). Doggett's presence did not give the series the ratings boost the network executives were hoping for. The eighth-season episode " This is Not Happening " marked the first appearance of Monica Reyes, played by Gish, who became a main character in season nine. Her character was developed and introduced due to Anderson's possible departure at the end of the eighth season. Although Anderson ultimately stayed through

12870-530: Was in the keyboard. And that was it." The second episode, " Deep Throat ", marked Snow's debut as solo composer for an entire episode. The production crew was determined to limit the music in the early episodes. Likewise, the theme song itself first appeared in "Deep Throat". Snow was tasked with composing the score for both The X-Files films. The films marked the first appearance of real orchestral instruments; previous music had been crafted by Snow using digitally sampled instrument sounds. Snow's soundtrack for

12987-415: Was introduced in the first-season episode " E.B.E. " as a way to make Mulder appear more credible. They were originally meant to appear in only that episode, but due to their popularity, they returned in the second-season episode " Blood " and became recurring characters. Cigarette Smoking Man, portrayed by William B. Davis, was initially cast as an extra in the pilot episode. His character, however, grew into

13104-408: Was largely filmed at "Club Ed", a movie ranch located on the outskirts of Lancaster, California . Although the sixth through ninth seasons were filmed in Los Angeles, the series' second movie, The X-Files: I Want to Believe (2008), was filmed in Vancouver, According to Spotnitz, the film's script was written for the city and surrounding areas. The 2016 revival was also shot there. The music

13221-705: Was of Lutheran faith. In 1938, he began work for Red Comet, manufacturer of automatic firefighting equipment. He was promoted to district manager the next year. In 1940, Arnold started his own company, the Great Western Fire Control Supply in Boise, Idaho, which sold and installed fire suppression systems, a job that took him around the Pacific Northwest. In 1941, Arnold married Doris Lowe (1918–1990); they had four daughters. On June 24, 1947, Kenneth Arnold claimed that he saw

13338-449: Was often portrayed to be just as convincing as Mulder's more outlandish ideas. Petrucha was eventually fired and various other authors took up the job. Topps published 41 regular issues of The X-Files from 1995–98. A 30 Days of Night / The X-Files cross-over graphic novel was published by WildStorm in 2010. It follows Mulder and Scully to Alaska as they investigate a series of murders that may be linked to vampires. In 2013, it

13455-495: Was tired of the comedies he had been working on for Walt Disney Pictures . A report that said 3.7 million Americans believed they may have been abducted by aliens, the Watergate scandal , and the 1970s horror series Kolchak: The Night Stalker all contributed to trigger the idea for The X-Files . He wrote the pilot episode in 1992. Carter's initial pitch for The X-Files was rejected by Fox executives. He fleshed out

13572-468: Was viewed by 29.1 million viewers, the series' highest-rated episode. The fifth season debuted with "Redux I" on November 2, 1997, and was viewed by 27.34 million people, making it the highest-rated non-special broadcast episode of the series. The season ranked as the eleventh-most watched series during the 1997–98 year , with an average of 19.8 million viewers. It was the series' highest-rated season as well as Fox' highest-rated program during

13689-434: Was viewed by an average of 13.6 million viewers; it ranked as the seventh most-watched television series of the 2015–16 year, making it the highest-ranked season of The X-Files to ever air. A few years later, the premiere episode of the eleventh season, "My Struggle III", was watched by 5.15 million viewers. This was a decrease from the previous season's debut; it was also the lowest-rated premiere for any season of

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