Factual error: In this episode, Mulder says, "In 1996, a rock from Mars was found in Antarctica." The rock ALH84001 was found in 1984, and the announcement that it may contain life came in 1996. (00:17:55)
Visible crew/equipment: When Scully asks Mulder, "Are you losing it?" the boom mic is at the top of the screen. (00:23:20)
Continuity mistake: When Mulder and Scully first see the artifact rubbing in Skinner's office, the rubbing is quite faint and lightly done. A couple of times during the episode, the rubbing becomes darker and heavier drawn.
Continuity mistake: At The End, when Scully is trying to wipe sand and water from the moving tide away from a section of spacecraft, she stands up and the camera pans out; she is suddenly 3 feet away from the ship and several more away from the tide line.
Factual error: This episode begins with Scully doing a voice-over about the incredible nature of our universe. The scene is very impressive visually, and would have been from the aspect of her oral presentation had it not been for a major error in the script. She says (more than once) that the universe is made up of matter and gas. This should have been "matter and energy". Gas is a form of matter.
Continuity mistake: When the two pieces combine into one and burst up into the Bible, in the first shot the neighboring books are leaning against the Bible, while in the following shot they are arranged in a neat pile. (00:05:30)
Continuity mistake: At The Beginning of the scene in his office, in the front shot Skinner wipes his glasses in his hands, but in the following back shot he's wearing them. (00:12:25)
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