Tunguska, Russia
Tunguska, Russia, is a remote and desolate region in Siberia that serves as a pivotal historical anchor for the X-Files mythology regarding extraterrestrial visitation. In the fourth-season episodes 'Tunguska' and 'Terma', Mulder and Alex Krycek trace an extraterrestrial rock, brought to America by a foreign diplomat, to a gulag in Russia.
Quick Facts
- Region
- Siberia, Russia
- Status
- Remote wilderness; location of crash debris
Lore & Background
At Tunguska, Mulder and Krycek are held captive until Krycek manoeuvres his own release. Escaping into the woods, Krycek meets a group of Russians with missing left arms, who amputate his arm as well to keep him from being used in black oil experiments.
Reader's Guide
'Tunguska' premiered on November 24, 1996; it was written by Frank Spotnitz and Chris Carter and directed by Kim Manners. It was inspired by reports of possible evidence of extraterrestrial life in the Allan Hills 84001 meteorite, the gulag setting by the works of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, and the story let the writers expand the mythology globally.
Did You Know?
- Meanwhile Scully refuses to tell a Senate select committee where Mulder is, and Senator Sorenson threatens her with contempt of Congress.
- The episode marked the return of the black oil storyline introduced in 'Piper Maru' and 'Apocrypha'.
- 'Tunguska' was watched by 18.85 million people on its first broadcast.
More in Locations & Settings
Elsewhere in The X-Files
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