Topic: Lone Gunmen

The pilot episode of the X-Files spin-off "The Lone Gunmen," which aired six months before September 11, 2001, featured a plot involving a government cabal hijacking a plane via remote control to crash it into the World Trade Center. The dialogue in the episode explicitly mentions increasing arms sales as the motive. This is cited as one of the most potent examples of foreshadowing in television history.

The concept of intelligence agencies using the entertainment industry to "test" scenarios is explored via researcher John Judge. A primary example cited is the pilot episode of The Lone Gunmen, which featured a plot involving a plane being flown into the World Trade Center. This episode aired in March 2001, months before the actual September 11 attacks.