In Townsend, Wisconsin, a UFO crashes in the nearby woods. When the deputy sheriff arrives on the scene, he is killed by an invisible figure. The crash is monitored by the U.S. Air Force, but Colonel Calvin Henderson, the military's UFO reclamations expert, orders that it be written up as a meteor. He then launches an operation to sanitize and cover-up the crash site, which is presented as a toxic train wreck to the press.
Mulder -- guided by Deep Throat -- arrives in Wisconsin and sneaks into the woods as Henderson's men clean up the wreckage. Mulder takes photos of the site but is captured. Henderson interrogates Mulder and destroys his film, then has him detained alongside a NICAP member named Max Fenig. The next morning, Scully arrives to pick up Mulder, telling him that Section Chief McGrath is threatening to shut down the X-Files because of his behavior. Scully says that the wreckage is neither a UFO or a train wreck, but a downed Libyan fighter jet with a potentially damaged nuclear warhead; Mulder does not believe this explanation. Meanwhile, in the woods, the invisible occupant of the UFO passes through an electronic fence set up around the crash site, escaping into the outside world.
The agents return to Mulder's motel room, finding it ransacked by Max. He turns out to be a fan of Mulder's, based on NICAP's research into his work with the X-Files. Max brings the agents to his Airstream trailer, where he shows them the final audio transmission from the deputy, as well as a firefighter crew who arrived at the crash site. Mulder and Scully visit the deputy's widow, who claims the government won't release her husband's body and threatened her into silence. They also meet the doctor who treated the deputy and the fire crew, who reveals that they died of abnormally severe burns; he too was threatened. Henderson arrives at the hospital with several burned soldiers, who were attacked when they cornered the invisible alien at their base.
Mulder returns to the motel and finds Max inside his trailer, having what seems to be an epileptic seizure. As Mulder tends to Max, he discovers a mysterious scar behind Max's ear. Mulder reviews earlier X-Files, discovering similar scars on two reported alien abductees. Scully believes that whatever abduction experience Max had was a schizophrenic delusion, having noticed medication in his trailer. But Mulder believes that Max, despite his interest in UFOs, is completely unaware of his experiences and was guided to Townsend by his abductors on the night of the crash.
The Air Force tracks a larger UFO as it hovers over Townsend. The invisible alien enters Max's trailer and abducts him. When the agents visit the trailer and find Max missing, an Army radio transmission reveals that he has been transported to a waterfront. They race to save Max as Henderson's men scour the area searching for him. The alien kills two soldiers who encounter Max, causing him to flee into a warehouse. As Mulder finds Max inside, the building is surrounded by Henderson's forces. Mulder tries to comfort Max, but is attacked and injured by the alien. Mulder then sees Max floating in a pillar of light before vanishing. When Henderson finds that Max is missing, he orders Mulder arrested.
Back in Washington, D.C., both Scully and Mulder report to Section Chief McGrath, who does not believe their claims. McGrath offers an especially harsh reprimand to Mulder, and presents written testimony by Henderson claiming that Max's body was found in a
cargo container. McGrath and his disciplinary board decide to shut down the X-Files and fire Mulder, but the decision is vetoed by Deep Throat. During a meeting with McGrath, Deep Throat repeats Sun Tzu's famous quote: "Keep your friends close, Mr. McGrath. But keep your enemies closer."
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