The end credits list General Black's wife as Betty, but in the film he addresses her as Katie and in a radio conversation, the President asks Black, "Are Kathryn and the kids in New York?"
Before the bombers enter Soviet airspace the fighters that attempt to shoot them down change type to include F-101s, F-102s and F-104s.
The UFO is reported initially "near Hudson's Bay" and its course is given (both in dialogue and on text superimposed on the map display) as 196, heading for Detroit. But according to the map display itself, it initially appears near the Labrador coast, more than 500 miles from Hudson Bay; and while it is heading for Detroit, its course from there is to the southwest, about 225.
Just before Mrs Grady tries to speak to her husband, the Ultimate 1 war room display shows 3 Vindicator bombers when at this time there is only one left.
The interior shots of the bombers, Convair B-58 Hustlers (see Trivia), actually were shot inside of a commercial airline simulator then under repair at a a New York airport. The three crew members sit within feet of each other, in an open cockpit layout. In an actual B-58, the world's first fly-by-wire and supersonic bomber (and capable of twice the speed of sound), the three-man crew of pilot, bombardier/navigator, and defense systems specialist were seated in-line and had no physical contact with one another. To make survivable ejection possible on such a high-speed aircraft, each compartment was specifically designed as wholly contained clam-shell "pod" that would be ejected intact if the need arose. As a result, the crew had to rely on an internal telecommunications system to talk, or a string-and-pulley system that ran along the cabin wall to exchange notes if those systems failed. It's speculated that this pod design was incorporated as a presidential safeguard on modern 747 versions of Air Force One, as implied in the film Air Force One (1997).
Some of the Officers are wearing their caps indoors. Air Force Officers and Airmen do not wear their caps indoors except when wearing side arms.
The star on each shoulder strap of Brigadier General Black's jacket is attached near the outer edge of the epaulet. Air Force uniform regulations dictate that the single star of a brigadier general should be positioned in the center of the epaulet.
The Air Force master sergeant supervisor and a few other airmen in the command post are wearing their "U.S." collar insignia incorrectly. In addition, many of the airmen also wear Strategic Air Command shoulder patches on their tan Type 505 or 1505 shirts. In actuality, shoulder patches were not worn with that type of uniform.
Many of the Air Force officers are wearing non-existent award ribbons on their uniforms, especially in the lower rows.
The interpreter is repeatedly described as a "translator". These are quite distinct professions (even though some people pursue both). Translators work on written texts, interpreters help people speaking different languages to communicate verbally. However in common conversation the two terms might be muddled.
The President refers to Andrews Air Force Base by its pre-1947 name Andrews Field. Since he and many of the older men were presumably military vets, many might revert to thinking of a base by the name that they were most familiar with.
When Buck is interpreting the Russian premier he speaks English to the President with a strange clipped Russian accent. This was intentional, implying that the interpreter was partially in Russian language mode.
Circa 40 minutes in, Professor Groeteschele is speaking in the Pentagon. There appears to be a man dressed in black sitting under the big board, but it is the professor's shadow.
When the fighters count down to light off their afterburners to try to catch up with the bombers, the shot where they light off their afterburners is actually a shot of the fighters launching missiles as you can see the missiles streak ahead of the fighters.
At the very beginning of the first scene in the White House, the President, his secretary and the 2 other men are all standing perfectly abreast of each other at the end of a hallway, as if they were just standing there waiting for the director to yell "Action!". If they really had just come around the corner (which is the only place they could have come from, since the hallway dead ends on a window), they should be jumbled more closely together, being able to walk abreast of each other only after 3 or 4 steps.
When Professor Groeteschele drives away from the party, his convertible Ford Thunderbird has vent windows in the doors. Shots taken from the sides during the drive show A pillars on both sides but no vent windows, which would be butted up against the A pillars with the doors closed.
The flyover of the Empire State Building shows it without its television transmitter mast, which was completed in 1952.
When the pilot is talking to a member of his crew and playing pool he clearly hits a striped ball with the cue, using it instead of the cue ball.
At the beginning of the meeting in the War Room at the Pentagon, while everyone is milling around and providing "small talk", general Stark mistakenly calls general Black "Whitey", when his actual nickname is "Blackie".
When the group at the Pentagon is debating whether or not to send the fighters to shoot down the bombers, Blackie almost jumps in with a line before he's supposed to speak, but he visibly catches himself and waits for the man next to him to deliver his line before speaking.
During the encounter with the UFO over Hudson Bay, General Bogen states that the US had never been to condition red (DEFCON 2). This was not true - the US was at DEFCON 2 during the Cuban Missile Crisis in October of 1962.