Factual error: The impact wave hitting the east coast is said to be faster than sound. Despite that, you still can hear the wave coming before it arrives in multiple scenes. If it actually was faster than sound, you would not hear the wave before arrival.
Suggested correction: The president claims the wave will be going at the speed of sound at first, but as it reaches the coast, it will slow down whilst rising in height. So it will not be going faster than the speed of sound anymore.
Factual error: When Sarah's family is fleeing Richmond, the highway sign says "Interstate 66." That highway is about a hundred miles north of Richmond; it starts in Washington DC. Another highway sign says "Virginia Beach 12 miles", which is the wrong way when fleeing Richmond westward.
Suggested correction: The sign says "Virginia Beaches," not Virginia Beach, so it could be anywhere in Virginia that has beaches.
Living in Virginia, there is no sign that says "Virginia Beaches 12 miles." "Virginia Beach" is a large city at the SE corner of Virginia and is more than 10 miles across. Any sign referencing the actual beach says "oceanfront x miles." Virginia Beach also has the tallest building in Virginia, the Westin hotel in downtown.
Plot hole: The government would have no chance of hiding the existence of the comet for a year. Most comets are discovered when they are very faint, literally thousands of times fainter than Wolf-Beiderman when Leo found it. Long before the events in the film take place, probably even before the government itself would be notified, the comet would have been discovered, an orbit calculated, and people panicked. The whole premise of the first half of the movie is thus based on flawed logic.
Suggested correction: Only 3-4% of the visible universe has been discovered. Meaning this comet could have been discovered much later.
Factual error: The shock wave that hit Messiah when it detonated the nuclear bomb on the comet would not have existed in space. It may have been hit by debris, but that would have destroyed the craft.
Suggested correction: Sound waves can't exist in space, but shock waves can and do. The website ScienceFocus explains, "Shock waves are actually quite common in space. Interplanetary shock waves can occur due to solar flares. 'Bow shocks' are formed by the interaction of the solar wind with planetary magnetospheres. Supernovae create powerful shocks, both within the star collapsing to form the explosion and also moving through the interstellar medium itself."
Shockwaves which form in space usually need very high energies, and therefore would have destroyed the Messiah. The shock wave created by a nuclear explosion mostly consists of heated air and other environmental particles, which do not exist in space.
Other mistake: How can it be named Wolf-Beiderman? Wolf never sent the email, and even if it did go, once the network was restored, he never called it Wolf-B before writing it on the floppy label. The president says both were killed in the crash. So, they invent an astronomer working at the observatory and no one notices? Remember, the floppy was destroyed in the fire. Wolf never called anyone; he was killed while trying to make a call. Maybe the pics were also burned. Mr. Perry never followed up?
Suggested correction: We didn't see him send the email, but that doesn't mean it didn't happen. We know he sent it because it's stated that's what happened.
