Plot hole: For such a well-financed, well-organised bunch of ruthless killers the people who try to clean up the mess that NASA leaves behind seem to have the intelligence of a cheese sandwich. 'Disappearing' one of their employees - the one who works out the discrepancy in the triangulation of the radio signals - is an obvious necessity but replacing him with a woman who claims to have lived in his apartment for years is stupid beyond explanation. The reporter knows that she is lying - it's as if they wanted to confirm that his suspicions of a conspiracy were true (and hence worth investigating). What is to stop him checking with the man's neighbours, or local shops? What about his bank, credit card suppliers, utility companies, friends and family who would have been in contact with him at that address? What about the landlord, or the mortgage company, or vehicle or driver's licence registration? What about the local electoral roll? There would be official records going back to the day he moved in to the apartment, and neither NASA nor their hired killers could have accessed all of that information even if they knew about it.
Suggested correction: It isn't a plot hole because the reporter didn't think of doing all those things. Who knows what other precautions had been put in place but weren't shown? He did a few checks and left it at that. Sure, he could have done more, but he didn't, so there's no problem.
Again, you have missed the point of the posting. The fact is, by putting a strange woman in the man's apartment, they confirm the reporter's suspicions to be true. It wasn't that he didn't check further, but he could have, and it was stupid of them to take that risk. Simply killing the man and leaving his apartment door locked would have covered their tracks nicely. He wasn't home when the reporter called. So what?
Question: Okay, so the three astronauts are on the run but only James Brolin makes good his escape. What happened to the other two? They're shown as being caught, but what happened after? Anybody know?
Chosen answer: It's never stated in the film, however, as the astronauts have been declared officially dead and therefore cannot ever be allowed to contact anybody, they were most likely executed as soon as they were captured.
Answer: How were they able to fire their flares, then?
Answer: O.J. Simpson would have had time to shoot his flare to show he was caught. With Waterson harder to believe, he had climbed the side of the mountain and was just coming to the top with the planes coming into view. Either he would have been dropped and died on way down, not getting the chance to shoot the flare, or he was grabbed from the edge. Unlikely to have time also to shoot the flare before being intercepted.
It's likely he would have had time. He was no threat and not going anywhere, so the helicopter pilots would have been in no rush to grab him. They were just sat patiently waiting for him. By the time they'd got out and reached him, he'd have plenty of time to grab and release his flare.
