(short for extraterrestrial biological entity) is the seventeenth episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files, premiering on the Fox network on February 18, 1994.
The episode introduced the recurring characters of The Lone Gunmen, played by Bruce Harwood, Dean Haglund and Tom Braidwood; and saw Jerry Hardin reprise his role as Deep Throat.
The show centers on FBI agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called X-Files.
When Mulder and Scully investigate the possible smuggling of a crashed UFO and its inhabitant across America, they find themselves being spied on and face doubts over the motives of a secretive informant.
The episode also introduced the characters of The Lone Gunmen—conspiracy theorists John Fitzgerald Byers (Harwood), Richard Langly (Haglund) and Melvin Frohike (Braidwood).
Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) investigate the sighting the next day, but Ranheim is quickly let go by the uncooperative local authorities.
Scully continues to investigate the Tennessee incident, learning that two thousand pounds of extra weight had been added to Ranheim's truck.
Mulder initially believes that Druce's truck is a decoy meant to distract him from the UFO, but discovers that Deep Throat's photo is a fake.
When they investigate the truck and the area, Mulder concludes that the encounter was a constructed hoax, intended to convince the duo to cease further pursuit.
The empty "lab" area that had held the episode's eponymous entity in the final scene was, in fact, a research facility used for testing electric current events.
[4] The episode also introduced the characters of the Lone Gunmen—conspiracy theorists John Fitzgerald Byers (Bruce Harwood), Richard Langly (Dean Haglund) and Melvin Frohike (Tom Braidwood).
[6] The inspiration for the Lone Gunmen came from a group of men that writers Morgan and Marilyn Osborn met at a UFO convention in June 1993.
[11] In a retrospective of the first season in Entertainment Weekly, the episode was rated an A, being called "dense, dazzling, and dark", with the introduction of The Lone Gunmen being praised.
[13] Matt Haigh, writing for Den of Geek, felt that the episode was a good example of the series refusing "to show its hand too early", saying that it would even have worked well as a season finale.