As a kid I always liked books like "Chariot of the Gods" or books on the paranormal and various "unexplained" mysteries like the Bermuda Triangle. Of course, sixties tv was also full of various sci-fi adventure shows too so I'm sure that had its own influence! A lot of stuff is mostly rubbish and doesn't bear much scientific/factual scrutiny but I certainly believe that there still remain quite a lot of unexplained phenomena and that some of the (literally 😀
outlandish theories put forward are logically possible. I've recently been watching old re-runs of the X-Files on Channel 4 and whilst some of the stories are just that, quite a few are based on real life events and the Jane Goldman books which look at these are quite interesting.
In these days especially of social media, "fake news" and ever evolving advances in AI, it pays to question what we see/read a bit more. I guess the increasingly difficult thing to do is to try and sort fact from fiction and not get dragged down the rabbit holes of conspiracy theories. The thing about the latter though is that they get us thinking because there is more often than not a credible question being asked. I don't think many, for example, would buy into the Twin Towers being all a black op. but, on the other hand, I defy anyone to watch the Zeitgeist movie and not believe that there are more than a few things "off" about the whole official version of events!
So, Mulder or Scully? Me, I'm kind of inbetween. Like Mulder I "want to believe" but like Scully I also try to look for rational explanations. The problem is that science cannot yet provide the answers for everything and empiricism doesn't really have the answers for everything either. Paranormal events, ghosts, third dimensions, quigong, UFOs, extra-terresterals, spirits, telepathy, deja vu etc. Logically these can all exist.