Factual error: Teddy wears army boots that did not exist in 1959.
Factual error: When the two drivers of the teenage gang are playing "Chicken" on a straight section of a two-lane highway, the center lines of the road consist of yellow hashmarks. Though the picture was set in 1959, center lines for passing zones on two-lane highways were painted white until 1971.
Factual error: There are aluminium cans in the general store. The first all-aluminium cans of this style weren't used in 1959, when the film is set. (00:24:05)
Factual error: Near the end of the movie, when the boys return to town, a garage door in the background is a modern metal roll-up type that was not available in 1959.
Factual error: After Wil Wheaton fires a warning shot, he points the pistol at Kiefer Sutherland and pulls the hammer back to threaten him. However, this is a semi-automatic pistol, and the hammer would already be cocked after the shot he fired. (01:13:40)
Factual error: When Gordy goes to get supplies at the store, as he is standing there the clerk is talking about Denny, and in the background on the shelf there is a bottle of Soft Scrub. It's supposed to be the 1960s, but Soft Scrub was not around until the early 80s. (00:25:00)
Factual error: When they find the dead body, the body looks like it has been dead for only a short while, his face even had a pinkish color to it still. Factually, the body would be a lot more decomposed after a few days, bluish or white in color from the blood pooling at the bottom of the body, since the body was on its back. (01:08:30)
Factual error: There's a scene with a house in the background that has the electric wires from the power pole going to a connection above the roof. In 1959, the connection would have been made under the eaves or on the outer wall.
Factual error: When the boys first start their hike at the railroad yard there is a modern transformer on a pole in the background. In 1959 they were smaller and black. (00:15:00)
Answer: A cello.