![The X-Files mistake picture](/images/screenshots/58000-58999/58457_sm.jpg)
Continuity mistake: When they find the felled ancient tree, the stump that Mulder clambers up onto to investigate the growth rings has a distinctive crack at the center and the growth rings are irregular in shape. However the stump that we get a close up of has no crack and regular circular rings. (00:18:20)
Continuity mistake: When they find the cocoon, the body inside is completely different in appearance from one shot to the next shot of it.
Answer: As he stated many times throughout the series, Mulder needed Scully to be sober and skeptical. Whenever Scully's skepticism wavered and she started questioning her own rationality, Mulder would try to restore her sense of skepticism, because he needed her to be clear-thinking.
Charles Austin Miller