If you thought The X‑Files was pure science‑fiction, think again—these 10 freaky true tales gave the writers real‑world material for some of the series’ wildest episodes.

Why These Freaky True Stories Matter

Each story below shows how reality can be stranger than any script. From a patient whose blood turned lethal to a cult that mirrored Jonestown, the truth behind the fiction is both chilling and fascinating.

10 Gloria Ramirez

The Episode: In the season‑one finale, a man’s corpse releases a poisonous gas after paramedics perform an emergency needle decompression. The ambulance crew dies, and the corpse later reveals alien DNA. The fictional twist is wild, but the real incident behind the toxic blood is even stranger.

The True Story: In 1994, Gloria Ramirez, a 31‑year‑old woman battling cervical cancer, was admitted to Riverside General Hospital. When a nurse drew blood, she saw floating particles and smelled a sharp ammonia odor. Six paramedics collapsed from the fumes, and more than twenty staff members exhibited symptoms. Scientists suspect that a combination of oxygen and a defibrillator turned dimethyl sulfoxide in her body into gaseous dimethyl sulfate, which seeped out and poisoned the staff. The exact cause remains an unsettling mystery.

9 Howard Unruh

The Episode: A deranged killer projects his murderous fantasies onto undeveloped film, leaving terrified images on a fresh roll of photographs after kidnapping a young woman at a pharmacy.

The True Story: Writer Vince Gilligan blended two real‑world oddities: Ted Serios, a 1960s photographer who claimed he could capture thoughts on undeveloped film, and Howard Unruh, the 1949 “Walk of Death” gunman who killed 13 neighbors after fantasizing about the act. Their combined influence birthed the unsettling premise of the episode.

8 Shared Insanity

The Episode: A telemarketer holds his coworkers hostage, convinced his boss is a giant bug that hides in the light. Mulder initially stays rational, but soon begins seeing the creature himself, leading to a surreal showdown in a psychiatric hospital.

The True Story: Folie à deux is a recognized psychiatric disorder where two people share the same delusion. In 2008, twin sisters Sabina and Ursula Eriksson each walked into traffic and were hit by cars. Another case involved three sisters who, while sharing a delusion, tried to break into a house and later sang naked in a shared jail cell; once separated, they returned to normal behavior.

7 Real‑World Pathogen Tests

The Episode: Scully grows suspicious when Mulder aids a bioterrorist who infects a man with a pathogen that melts his face. She uncovers Mulder’s undercover role within the terrorist group, aiming to stop a plan to spread the disease via bank currency.

The True Story: The episode’s title references the real Pine Bluff Arsenal in Arkansas, which researched and produced biological weapons before being shut down in the 1960s. The facility helped develop Agent Orange, whose effects linger in Vietnam. According to Anne Simon, the U.S. government conducted over 200 secret tests on civilians between 1943 and 1966 to study the spread of biological agents, infecting unwitting participants to map a potential attack.

6 The Abduction Of Polly Klaas

The Episode: Eugene Tooms squeezes through ventilation ducts to murder victims and harvest their livers. Mulder pursues him against orders, trying to stop further killings.

The True Story: In 1993, Richard Allen Davis was released from prison months before the kidnapping and murder of 12‑year‑old Polly Klaas. While the Tooms episode only borrows the element of a released criminal who kills again, the season‑three story “Oubliette” features a young girl kidnapped from her bedroom and held captive—mirroring Klaas’s tragedy. Fox almost pulled the episode, ultimately changing the girl’s age and omitting some of the harsher scenes.

5 John Hinckley Jr.

The Episode: A man hears voices from a Bettie Page tattoo that urges him to murder his neighbor and later to kill Scully. The tattoo’s voice is performed by Jodie Foster, adding a meta twist.

The True Story: In 1981, John Hinckley Jr. attempted to assassinate President Ronald Reagan, claiming he wanted to impress actress Jodie Foster, with whom he was obsessively infatuated. The episode’s resolution reveals ergot—a hallucinogenic fungus—found in the tattoo ink, echoing real‑world cases where ergot caused mass hysteria.

4 The Jonestown Massacre

The Episode: Mulder and Scully investigate the Temple of the Seven Stars, a cult believed to hide a weapons cache. When the FBI closes in, cult leader Vernon Warren forces everyone to drink poison, resulting in a mass suicide.

The True Story: The fictional cult draws on the Branch Davidians and their leader David Koresh, famous for the 1993 Waco siege. The episode’s final mass‑suicide scene is inspired by Jim Jones’s Jonestown tragedy, where over 900 followers drank cyanide and were later shot if they refused.

3 Jeffrey Dahmer

The Episode: A morgue worker collects macabre souvenirs from dead bodies and eventually murders to acquire more trophies. At times he appears to shift shape, terrifying his victims.

The True Story: Creator Chris Carter confirmed the killer was modeled after serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. Reports claim some of Dahmer’s victims believed he shapeshifted during their captivity. The show originally planned to depict necrophilia, but Fox censored that element, leaving only the eerie souvenir‑collecting behavior.

2 Project Seafarer

The Episode: Mulder is kidnapped by a man who fears his head will explode if he stops driving. They later discover an underground extremely low‑frequency (ELF) antenna beneath the man’s property.

The True Story: Project Seafarer was a U.S. government effort to lay a network of underground ELF wires for submarine communication. Public fears once suggested ELF exposure could cause heads to explode, but research proved those concerns unfounded. The project was eventually deemed obsolete and shut down.

1 The Ward Brothers

The Episode: A family of inbred brothers murders anyone who threatens their secluded existence. Their brutality includes beating a police officer to death with a baseball bat—a scene so graphic the episode was banned from rebroadcast.

The True Story: In 1990, Syracuse, New York, made headlines when William Ward, one of four brothers living in a dilapidated house, was found dead. The youngest brother, Delbert, was initially accused of killing William in his sleep, but he was later acquitted after it emerged he was illiterate and could not have read the signed confession used against him.

The X‑Files first graced television screens three decades ago, running from 1993 through 2002. The series chronicled the otherworldly investigations of FBI agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny), a true‑believer in the paranormal, and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), a pragmatic medical doctor. Since then, the franchise has spawned two feature films (1998 and 2008) and two brief revival seasons (2016 and 2018), and a reboot—sans Mulder and Scully—is reportedly in development. Here are 10 things you might not know about this iconic show.

10 things you’ll uncover

10. The X‑Files Is Filled With Cameo Appearances

Every week Mulder and Scully stumbled upon a fresh, bizarre mystery, which meant the producers constantly needed new faces. Thankfully, the series managed to rope in several already‑famous actors. Bruce Campbell, best known from Evil Dead, pops up in “Terms of Endearment” as a demon yearning for fatherhood, while Jodie Foster lends her voice to a murderous tattoo in “Never Again.” Hollywood legend Burt Reynolds even portrays God in the episode “Improbable.”

The show also served as an early platform for many future stars. A brief cameo by Ryan Reynolds appears in “Syzygy,” a young Shia LaBeouf shows up in “The Goldberg Variation,” and Luke Wilson portrays two versions of the same character—one seen through Mulder’s perspective, the other through Scully’s—in “Bad Blood.”

9. The Theme Song Was Created Partly By Accident

When creator Chris Carter asked composer Mark Snow to devise “something that Boy Scouts could hum at the campfire, a scary tune, something akin to The Twilight Zone,” he sent Snow a copy of The Smiths’ “How Soon Is Now?” as a reference. Snow later revealed that Love Spit Love’s cover of that track was repurposed for the theme of Charmed years later.

Snow struggled until one day his elbow unintentionally rested on the keyboard while the echo effect was active. That serendipitous sound sparked the melody, prompting him to experiment with flute, piano, and violin—none of which fit. Eventually, he stumbled upon a sample titled “Whistling Joe” on his Proteus 2 synth. His wife Glynn helped “beef it up,” giving the iconic whistle its half‑human, half‑machine character.

The piece, occasionally titled “Materia Primoris,” charted across several nations, spawning remixes by DJ Dado and Triple X. The theme even shows up in other songs—Catatonia’s “Mulder and Scully,” Bloodhound Gang’s “The Bad Touch,” and Barenaked Ladies’ “One Week.”

8. Duchovny and Anderson Hated Each Other

Off‑screen, Anderson embodies the believer, while Duchovny plays the skeptic. “Psychokinesis appeals to me,” Anderson once said, “ESP, telling the future—I love that stuff.” Paradoxically, their real‑life relationship was frosty; they reportedly despised one another. In a 2016 Variety interview, Duchovny described the show’s “crucible” as turning both of them into “monsters.”

Things warmed up when they reunited for The X‑Files: I Want to Believe (2008). Anderson reflected, “Our relationship has definitely become a proper friendship over the last few years,” adding that they’re now more attuned to each other’s needs and concerns.

Both leads also dabbled behind the camera: Anderson contributed to “all things” while Duchovny wrote and directed a handful of episodes, showcasing their multifaceted talent.

7. One Episode Was So Disturbing That Fox Stopped Airing It

The X‑Files never shied away from horror—consider the Flukeman monster, portrayed by Darin Morgan, who later became a writer for the series. Yet season four’s “Home” cranked the scares up a notch, opening with infanticide, featuring graphic violence, and centering on an incestuous, inbred family. Writer James Wong recalled a producer’s call: “You guys are sick!”

“Home” premiered in October 1996 without any content warnings—TV Parental Guidelines didn’t kick in until January 1, 1997. Fox subsequently refused to rerun the episode for three years.

In October 1999, the episode finally resurfaced, this time bearing the series’ sole TV‑MA rating for graphic content. Fox even used the controversy as a marketing hook, with a TV Guide ad proclaiming, “Only on Halloween… would we dare air an episode so controversial.”

6. Final Destination Started Out As an X‑Files Episode

Super‑fan Jeffrey Reddick penned a spec script titled “Flight 180” after reading about a mother who changed flights after her daughter sensed danger. The plane crashed, prompting Reddick to wonder, “What if she was supposed to die on that flight?” In his draft, Scully’s brother experiences a premonition about a doomed flight and manages to cheat death.

Although Reddick never submitted the script to the show, the concept morphed into the 2000 film Final Destination. Notably, X‑Files writers James Wong and Glen Morgan (brother of Darin Morgan) were hired to assist with the screenplay, and Wong also directed the movie, leaving unmistakable X‑Files fingerprints on the final product.

5. Spin‑Offs and Crossovers

The X‑Files’ popularity birthed a slew of spin‑offs and crossovers—some thriving, others flopping. The Lone Gunmen spin‑off followed the eponymous trio who occasionally aided Mulder and Scully, lasting just one season. An animated spin‑off called The X‑Files: Albuquerque, intended to spotlight agents tackling the duo’s “silly” cases, was canceled before production.

Crossovers abound: the beloved Simpsons episode “The Springfield Files” features animated versions of Mulder and Scully investigating an alien. “X‑Cops” pits the agents against the reality series Cops, while “Unusual Suspects” brings in Detective John Munch (Richard Belzer) from Homicide: Life on the Street and Law & Order: SVU. “Millennium” offers closure for Chris Carter’s canceled series of the same name, having Mulder and Scully enlist Frank Black (Lance Henriksen) to tackle the Millennium group.

The franchise also ventured into comics, spawning crossovers with 30 Days of Night (where Mulder and Scully confront vampires in Alaska) and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, with the Lone Gunmen investigating the half‑shelled heroes.

4. The X‑Files Helped Make Breaking Bad

Vince Gilligan, a former X‑Files writer, credits the series for sparking his creation of Breaking Bad. The season‑six episode “Drive” follows the nefarious Patrick Crump, who must be driven west by Mulder to prevent his head from exploding. Gilligan wanted viewers to sympathize with this despicable character, believing only Bryan Cranston could pull off such a “trick.”

When Gilligan sought to cast Cranston as Walter White, AMC executives balked, knowing him only as the quirky dad from Malcolm in the Middle. Gilligan screened “Drive,” convincing them of Cranston’s depth and securing his casting.

Other X‑Files alumni later appeared in Breaking Bad: Aaron Paul (Jesse Pinkman) popped up in the season‑nine episode “Lord of the Flies,” and Dean Norris (Hank Schrader) featured in the season‑two episode “F. Emasculata.”

3. Unmade Episodes

A daring, unrealized project was a remake of George A. Romero’s seminal zombie classic Night of the Living Dead (1968), slated for season seven. Romero was set to direct, while horror novelist Stephen King—who wrote the fifth‑season episode “Chinga”—was to pen the script. For reasons still unknown, the episode never materialized.

Another abandoned story centered on Abraham Lincoln’s ghost haunting the White House. Planned for season four, the script was shelved after Glen Morgan and James Wong endured extensive rewrites on “Musings of a Cigarette‑Smoking Man.” Morgan reflected, “I had done a lot of research, and I had always wanted to write a feature about Lincoln’s ghost. But I felt they didn’t want my heart and soul anymore, so I wouldn’t give this one to them.”

2. Star Trek Parodied The X‑Files

The 1996 Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode “Trials and Tribble‑ations” introduced two characters—Dulmur and Lucsly—who parody Mulder and Scully. Their names are near‑anagrams of the FBI duo, and they hail from the Department of Temporal Investigations (DTI), an unmistakable nod to the original series.

Actor James W. Jansen, who portrays Lucsly, also appeared in The X‑Files as Dr. Heitz Werber, the hypnotist who helps Mulder recall his sister’s alien abduction. Werber later assists both Mulder and Scully in hypnotic regression sessions with other abductees.

Though not a direct parody, the show Californication, starring Duchovny as novelist Hank Moody, includes a tongue‑in‑cheek reference: when Moody dons a suit in “The Trial,” he quips that he “looks like a f**king FBI agent.”

1. The Scully Effect

Gillian Anderson’s portrayal of a brilliant female scientist and FBI agent has inspired countless women to pursue careers in STEM—science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. This phenomenon is now known as the “Scully Effect.” In 2013, Anderson noted, “We get a lot of letters all the time, and I was told quite frequently by girls who were going into the medical world or the science world or the FBI world or other worlds that I reigned, that they were pursuing those pursuits because of the character of Scully.”

The impact isn’t merely anecdotal. A 2018 Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media report found that among women familiar with Scully, half (50 %) say she boosted their interest in STEM, while nearly two‑thirds (63 %) of women working in STEM cite Dana Scully as a role model.