Continuity mistake: At the MCAS El Toro ruins, when Steven's chopper is heard overhead, the First Lady sits up and leans on her right arm with her left arm over the blanket. In Jasmine's close-up, the First Lady is lying down fully covered by the blanket, but when it cuts back to the First Lady her position is back as the first shot.
Continuity mistake: When Steven is dragging the alien in his parachute, the sweat stain on his tank top changes shape and gets smaller, by the time he speaks with Russell a few moments later.
Continuity mistake: When the two couples say their goodbyes, before Steven and David's mission, Jasmine has her right arm over Steven's shoulder in the shot facing her, but next shot her right arm is down, under his arm.
Continuity mistake: When Julius and David drive to DC, the amount of dirt on the Plymouth's front and back windshields varies between shots.
Continuity mistake: When the B2 releases the nuke it banks away to the left, however the next radar shot shows it flying away to the right.
Continuity mistake: Near the end of the film, when all the main characters pull up in a jeep to meet David and Steven who have just returned to earth, Jasmine leaps out first and is shown running alone toward them, yet Connie gets to the men first. This cannot be explained by Connie being faster than Jasmine as the distance is too short(the rest of the group stroll to the men in only seconds). Connie would have to run like the wind.
Continuity mistake: Jasmine's friend at the strip club shows off a sign she made. It changes design and grows creases. This is more evident in the special edition, as the scene is longer.
Continuity mistake: As Smith leaves Jasmin to go to El Tore his uniform jacket's epaulettes are untucked then tucked and finally untucked again.
Continuity mistake: When the alien spaceships open the main gun above the White House we can just see the green light coming on at two people on the ground. When the camera cuts to the view of the spaceship the gun housing is almost completely open.
Continuity mistake: Near the end of the film as the shields come down, the jets start firing missiles at the ship. There is a shot of Randy Quaid's son walking through the control room at Area 51. Notice in the background, the lights are blinking on and off. The alien ship hasn't fired it's main weapon yet. Once it does they show the lights flickering off and on in the control room. These scenes are several minutes apart.
Continuity mistake: In the diner, when the alien destroyer is about to pass overhead, things begin to shake as Russell sits at the counter and the three guys are at the table. In the close-up of the table, the salt and pepper shakers appear near the coffee cup, the Diet Coke disappears and everything changes position - having nothing to due with the table shaking.
Continuity mistake: Aboard Air Force One, when David feels nauseous there is a telephone between his seat and his father's, whose cord gets twisted between shots, though it hasn't been touched.
Continuity mistake: At SETI, before the signal starts to beep, when the techie putts the golf ball there are many other golf balls lying about, which change position between the wideshot and close-up.
Continuity mistake: When Julius and David pull up beside the White House gate, David places the device on the Plymouth's hood to triangulate Connie's position inside. The device's position on the car's hood differs between the close-up and wideshot - note the car door.
Continuity mistake: When David and Julius are playing chess at the park in Brooklyn, the slow decomposing styrofoam coffee cup, David's beeper, radio, removed chess pieces (not in play), etc., change position between shots, particularly in relation to the chess board.
Continuity mistake: The Commander walks into the Oval Office to tell the President that the object settled into a stationary orbit, and when the silver briefcase is placed and then opened on the table things move and a paper disappears. (More visible in fullscreen)
Answer: This is indeed a mistake. The character is played by Bill Smitrovich and is listed as playing Captain Watson, but in the briefing scene he is wearing collar insignia for a Lt. Colonel.
lionhead