Character-labelled dialogue prepared from the official DVD subtitle track.
(speaking arabic)
(screams)
(military radio calls)
(radio static)
(loud hum)
(explosion)
This is southern crescent to red crescent. We've got a downed plane at camp perimeter. That's a negative. We have nothing in the sky. We got something down here. Advise medevac to stand by. We're going to check it out. Medevac one, medevac one, this is red crescent. Southern crescent reports downed aircraft in their area. Over.
Breaker, breaker, this is quick light.
Readin' you loud and clear. This is betty blue. Come on.
From opryland, 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 will straighten you right out. And you have my word on that. Goody--
(loud static)
C.b. Caller #1: it was cigar-shaped, red and green lights fast as hell.
Caller #2: I seen three of them flying over chester county. Caller #3: right, right, and six troopers were chasing them down 22.
(siren blaring)
Caller #4: I see one now. It's over the water tower. Red and green lights just like you said!
(loud hum)
From the trucker's description the shape he fired upon could conceivably have been a mountain lion's.
Conceivably.
The national weather service last night reported atmospheric conditions in this area which were 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 in which phospine 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 in three counties become hysterical over swamp gas? I've investigated multiple sightings before. Chesapeake bay, the okoboji lakes, area 51 in nevada. None had this much supporting evidence. Anecdotal data, exhaust residue radiation levels five times the norm.
Mulder, none of that evidence is conclusive.
The question is, why was the trucker singled out?
Isn't it more plausible that an exhausted truck driver became 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 stop watches 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 of horse manure. I'm a vet and I know how to handle a gun.
Mr. Ranheim, I'd appreciate it if you could elaborate on the report you filed last night regarding your encounter.
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.
(coughs)
All I want is to deliver my shipment of auto parts and forget...
(coughing)
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 all symptoms of gulf war syndrome.
I was never in the gulf war.
Okay. 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.
This man had an alleged close encounter. The truck contains important evidence. Sir! If I may...
You've gotten all you're going to get. We will no longer cooperate in your investigation.
Why?
Just... Go away.
Not... Not here.
It's obvious someone got to the police chief. Ranheim was hiding something.
Ranheim was sick.
Only since last night.
Excuse me, could I use your pen?
Mm-hmm. You suggesting gulf war syndrome is caused by ufos?
Ufos are frequently witnessed by soldiers during wartime.
Thanks.
The only ufos that soldiers are likely to see are secret military aircraft.
What if that's what made the soldiers in iraq sick-- the exhaust or fuel of a classified aircraft or its weapon.
There is a base in little rock. You think that's what the air force was flying that night?
They'd deny it, but it could possibly explain how ranheim developed his symptoms.
Possibly.
I want to talk to some people when we get back to washington.
The military isn't going to talk.
No, these guys are like an extreme government watchdog group. They publish a magazine called the lone gunman. Some of their information is first rate-- covert actions, classified weapons. Some of their ideas are downright spooky.
(clicking)
Anybody out there with their ears on?
So, Mulder, I had breakfast with the guy who shot john f. Kennedy.
Is that so?
Yeah. Says he was dressed as a cop on the grassy knoll.
And, Mulder, listen to this. Zhirinovsky, the leader of the russian social democrats-- he's being put into power by the most heinous and evil force of the 20th century.
Barney?
The c.I.a.
Hmm.
Is this your skeptical partner?
(camera clicks)
She's hot.
You don't believe the c.I.a., threatened by a loss of power and funding, wouldn't dream of having the old enemy back?
I think you give the government too much credit. The government can't control the deficit or manage crime.
Lone gunman.
What makes you think they can plan and execute an elaborate conspiracy?
She is hot.
Settle down, frohike.
It's not idiots on the hill trying to bone capitol pages. We're talking about a dark network-- 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?
Hmm. I'll check. Mm-hmm. Hey!
That's just one method. They use this magnetic strip to track you. Whenever you go through a metal detector at an airport they know exactly how much you're carrying.
It is a federal crime to deface money.
The strip is an anti-counterfeiting measure.
On the inside? Other countries put it on the outside.
O... O... Okay, all right. What do you know about gulf war syndrome?
Agent orange of the 90s.
Shells coated with depleted uranium.
Heard of any classified planes being flown during the persian gulf war?
Why expose a secret plane to an air force that runs to iran whenever you fly?
Any ufo activity during that period?
Yeah. Ufos caused gulf war syndrome. That's a good one.
That's why we like you, Mulder. Your ideas are weirder than ours.
Those were the most paranoid people I have ever met. How could you think their ideas are remotely plausible?
I think 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 they go. It's a form of self-delusion. It makes them think that what they're doing is important enough that somebody would...
What's the matter?
(phone ringing)
Hello.
(hanging up telephone)
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 camden 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.
Any park in the country.
(camera clicks)
It's just a tourist.
In our line, nothing is just what it seems.
What am I onto? We go to investigate a truck driver's encounter with a ufo and the next thing we're discovering electronic surveillance equipment. Who's listening to us? Why won't you tell me? What am I onto?
A dangerous path.
(man speaking arabic)
(responding in arabic)
(screams)
(first man speaking excitedly)
(yelling response)
The truck is bogus and so's the truck driver, ranheim. First I checked his manifest. It listed a truck carrying 108 cartons of auto parts weighing 3,100 pounds. Then I checked with three weigh stations along his route. They have it listed at 5,100 pounds. There's something in that truck, and it's not auto parts. And of course, nobody ever reported him. Furthermore, ranheim lied 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 v.a. 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 an unidentified flying object. The wreckage and possibly the occupants were recovered by the army. Ranheim, the truck driver, 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 weighs so much more than listed. The military has, in the past, transported dangerous materials and weapons...
I'm beginning to sound like those guys at the lone gunman, right?
Where did you obtain this information?
Let's just say it's a source with a deep background.
I want to know all about him.
All I know is that he's guided us away from harm.
How do you know that? We work for the federal bureau of investigation, and we're being bugged. What does that tell you?
That tells me that not everything is as it appears to be.
Exactly. 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 going to have to trust me. Did you find out where the truck is now?
Generally. It's heading west, towards colorado.
We've got to try to intercept it and see what's on board. I'm going to go pick up a few things. I'll meet you back at your place in an hour, okay?
I cut the main breaker.
(sighs)
You risk exposure coming here.
What I have here is too important. The photograph in that envelope was taken by an officer at fort benning, georgia. 17 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 just wanted to take this opportunity to thank you. You've helped my work so much and you've never asked for anything in return and I know you've put yourself at great risk to do so.
This is the best photographic evidence I have ever seen. I knew the gulf breeze photos were a hoax, but this is the quality of evidence the government has amassed for decades at the highest classified levels. That business with the truck was a decoy to keep anyone looking closely away from fort benning where they are keeping the remains of the iraqi ufo. We've got to leave for georgia immediately.
This photograph 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 of the ship's lights.
There's probably tint in the windshield. Or the gradation could be attributed to atmospheric conditions.
We should have it analyzed.
You're determined not to believe him.
Maybe you're too determined to believe him.
I am determined to follow a lead that may result in the proof of the existence of extraterrestrial biological entities.
Mulder, listen. Please, 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. Initially, it appears to be legitimate. The film grain matches in pattern and density color levels, 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-- not to mention that the window couldn't even 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. Well, at least you're not insulting me further by feigning appalled surprise.
I think a compliment is in order. That photo was prepared by our very best.
I thought you were my ally.
Oh, I am.
Imagine if eisenhower told the allies d-day would take place in belgium.
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 spent years watching you from my, uh, lofty position to know that you were the one I could trust.
Then why did you lie to me?
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 m.I.a.s or radiation experiments on terminal patients, watergate iran-contra, Roswell, the tuskegee experiments. Where will it end? Oh, I guess it won't end as long as... Men like you decide what is truth. That transcript you gave me of the iraqi pilot-- that was the truth. Yeah. Why did you even bother to show it to me?
Well, I was aware that you were onto 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 a 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.
(doorbell rings)
Mulder! Are you home?
Scully, glad you dropped by. I been thinking about this whole situation. And I think you're right. I think we should just move on.
I think this time you're right, Mulder.
All right, stick with him.
There is your round-trip ticket 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 I'll be paying cash.
(horns honking)
Called every weigh station and bureau office west of colorado. Tied up an airphone for three hours. Some japanese businessman told me to stick a piece of sushi where the sun don't shine.
My ear's numb from being on hold for so many hours.
At least they didn't trace our call. I couldn't find the truck. Did you have any luck?
Yep. It's heading northwest on I-90.
We have to get a couple of tickets to seattle.
Yeah, think about it. This truck drove across america. People it passed 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.
Well, if that were the case...
(loud static)
You all right?
Yeah.
Come on.
Ranheim! 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?
Are you 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, a stealth helicopter with an ultra high-intensity light. It doesn't matter. 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. Maybe they're using me against myself, like you said before. That I want so badly to believe, that I'd just accept the obvious conclusions and walk away.
Well, now we have nothing to go on and 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.
Leverling and priest rapids, east bank of the columbia river. Did you send out a field investigator? And you can substantiate the sighting? Okay, nick. Thanks a lot. I've contacted several organizations that have hot lines for ufo reports. 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 are following the path of the truck.
And after last night's hoax... Look at this. Seven sightings in mattawa, washington, a hundred Miles away.
Aliens?
Looks like they want their colleague back.
It was round...
We've driven full circle through mattawa twice. There's nothing here.
(rock music)
What's over there?
We have been waiting! Welcome to our home! We are willing to go with you!
Ahh-doo-nay-vah-so-barahgahs.
That's an intergalactic space greeting. That means "hello, space brothers."
Hello.
What's going on here?
A ufo party.
You've seen ufos?
Last two nights. They're drawn to our electric power. They hover over the power plant down there.
Everyone! They are here!
Yes, sir, that's right.
It's all secure. Lock it up.
This is it. There's ranheim.
This place has got to have the highest level of security.
Just the kind of challenge they're looking for.
Who?
(dialing phone)
(phone ringing)
Lone gunman.
It's Mulder. Turn the tape recorder off.
Okay. It's off.
Turn it off!
It's off already.
How would you like to have on your front page the first substantiated photo of an extraterrestrial biological entity?
No way. An e.b.e.? What do we have to do?
Just hack me some identification numbers.
Here you go.
In unmarked trucks across the country.
Hey!
Braidwood and stefoff.
Personal identification number?
7-5-9-3.
5-3-1-1.
Open the trunk, please. Park in lot four.
Thanks.
Hey, wait! Display these at all times. Proceed.
Langly said he couldn't gain access to level six, so that's why we... We have to go back through that door.
We'll look suspicious going back.
We'll have to find another access then.
They won't let us.
You folks come with me, please.
We're lost. We're looking for...
Just proceed down the hallway.
If you could just help us...
Mulder, stop. We're agents with the federal bureau of investigation. I'm reaching for my ID we're here conducting an investigation.
Proceed down the hallway, please. This is level two to level six. I have a male and a female who have identified themselves...
Mulder!
Stop! Hold it! He took the stairs! Go! Go! Go! This way. Come on, guys! Aah! Stay on top of him! Move! Move! Halt! I said, hold it! Halt!
(guns cocking)
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 ultrasecret conference attended by the united states, the soviet union, the people's republic of china, britain, both germanies, france and it was agreed that should any extraterrestrial biological entity survive a crash, the country that held that being would be responsible for its extermination. I, um... Have the distinction of being one of three men to have exterminated such a creature. I was with the c.I.a. 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.
(chuckles)
Try another character, phrase, or keyword.
The dialogue comes from the official DVD subtitle track supplied by Boggsfiles. Speaker and scene attribution was cross-checked against character-labelled reference material. Subtitle wording is preserved while capitalization and spacing are standardized for easier reading.