Factual error: 1. Turntables used by radio stations have no repeat play function; they are strictly manual operation. 2. Even if they did, continuous play of one 45rpm record would have eventually elicited a skip, and later the complete wearing through of the vinyl by friction of the needle. (01:25:40)
Factual error: There's a scene where the mother shoots an oxygen tank, which explodes, to kill an alien. A bullet shot by a pistol doesn't have the power to penetrate an oxygen cylinder. This has been tested with guns of various types. Even a .44 Magnum was only able to dent the cylinder. It took a .338 Lapua Magnum rifle cartridge to penetrate the cylinder. Even then, the cylinder didn't explode; it just "shot flame" from the exit hole.
Answer: It didn't look or act like a normal meteor streaking through the sky and burning up in the atmosphere. It was large, the fiery mass seemed suspended in air, and it was close enough to the ground that spectators, erring on the side of caution, sought shelter.
raywest ★
What does a "normal" flaming meteor look like? How many meteors do you think the people of a small town in upstate NY have seen? Don't know what you mean by "seemed suspended in air." It was passing over and would land miles away, posing zero threat to the people of the town.
Jizzmopper
1. Smaller and less fiery. 2. Probably lots on TV. 3. Means it was moving slower than a meteor would be expected to move. 4. They had no way of assessing the potential threat. As it turned out, it posed a very real threat to them.