E.B.E. (The X-Files)

"E.B.E." (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. It was written by Glen Morgan and James Wong, and directed by William Graham. 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 episode helped explore the series' overarching mythology. "E.B.E." earned a Nielsen household rating of 6.2, being watched by 5.8 million households in its initial broadcast; and received positive reviews from critics.

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.

Inspired by the film All the President's Men (1976), "E.B.E." was the first mythology-centered episode written for the show by writers Morgan and Wong. The episode also introduced the characters of The Lone Gunmen—conspiracy theorists John Fitzgerald Byers (Harwood), Richard Langly (Haglund) and Melvin Frohike (Braidwood). The characters, who were used to help Mulder appear more credible, later became recurring characters and eventually gained their own spin-off series, The Lone Gunmen.