 Extraterrestrials make their first appearance in this episode , as Carter thought it would be a good moment to reveal them . The image of the alien was stretched in post @-@ production to make it look taller and skinnier . The writers for the episode researched various abductee reports and conspiracy theories in order to get the right feel for the episode and make the aliens appear realistic and not " fanciful " . The episode makes several mentions to the Voyager program and the Voyager Golden Record ; Mulder and Senator Matheson listen to Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F. First Movement while in the latter 's office . The concerto 's first movement is the first piece of music on the Voyager record . In addition , the episode relies heavily on mentions of the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence ( SETI ) program , the collective name for a number of activities people undertake to search for intelligent extraterrestrial life . Morgan later explained , “ I always wanted to do something with the SETI background . Hope that kids at school check out SETI , because it was factual as to what exists . ” 
