The Lone Gunmen

In the March 2001 pilot episode of The X-Files spin-off series The Lone Gunmen, the main characters uncover a rogue government conspiracy involving a hijacked commercial airliner. The plot centers on a black-ops faction that remotely hacks a Boeing 727, intending to crash the plane directly into the World Trade Center in order to blame foreign terrorists and justify an increase in military defense spending. Airing just six months prior to September 11, 2001, the episode featured visual sequences of the airliner heading on a collision course toward the Twin Towers before the protagonists managed to override the autopilot at the last second. Due to its specific plot points involving remote hijackings, commercial jets used as weapons against New York landmarks, and geopolitical pretexts, viewers widely consider the pilot one of the most astonishingly detailed pop culture predictions of the 9/11 tragedy.