Factual error: Ethan Shaw is mentioned throughout the movie as graduating from the Air Force Academy, and also as a Lieutenant by other characters. When his brother Jerry Shaw is shown his brother's ID by ARIA (the eagle eye computer,) the ID shows Ethan Shaw as a SMSgt (Senior Master Sergeant). This is impossible by Air Force standards, even if he was a genius. It cannot be part of a fake cover as listing a 20-something year-old as a SMSgt would be so obviously fake as to be useless. No one in the Air Force would believe it and anyone competant enough to design ARIA and the infrastructure to accompany her would not make such a ridiculous mistake.
Eagle Eye (2008)
Ending / spoiler
Directed by: D.J. Caruso
Starring: Billy Bob Thornton, Rosario Dawson, Shia LaBeouf, Michelle Monaghan, Michael Chiklis
The woman is in fact a sophisticated computer system that has become self aware and has determined that the current President must be eliminated due to the bombing of an innocent funeral at the beginning of the film. The computer's plan is to blow up the State of the Union address using a crystal shaped bomb in a necklace Rachel is wearing, and a sonic trigger hidden in her son's trumpet, whose band is playing the national anthem at said address. Jerry and Morgan figure all this out and try to head to the Capitol to stop this, but a remote operated airplane bombs their car. Morgan crashes his car into the plane, blowing both of them up, and Jerry makes it to the Capitol and fires Morgan's gun, interrupting the national anthem. Jerry is shot by security, but the bomb is successfully thwarted. The computer is shut down by the Secretary of Defense and Jerry is awarded a medal for his troubles. The last scene is Jerry showing up at Rachel's son's birthday party.
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More mistakes in Eagle Eye
Zoe Perez: You don't have a choice. Look. Now, neither of us know if either of those brothers are guilty or innocent, so on behalf of the Secretary of the Air Force, I'm going into that room.
Agent Thomas Morgan: Well, on behalf of all that fucking bomb equipment in junior pinhead's apartment, no, you're not.
Trivia: The voice of ARIIA is actually Julianne Moore who went uncredited for the role.
More questions & answers from Eagle Eye
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Chosen answer: I'm pretty sure it's to prove to the people watching the movie and to both Jerry and Rachel what can happen if they disobey, as after this event they followed the orders from ARIA closely.