Continuity mistake: When Ben ducks into the Gift Store, there is a blonde lady in a black dress standing at the counter between Ben and the door. She steps forward out of the picture as Abigail goes by. Then as Ben starts to turn to leave the store you see her arm come back into the picture. But as Ben walks by that part of the store and the clerk says to Ben, "Are you trying to steal that?" the lady has disappeared.
Factual error: The security to get into Independence Hall is very strict, since the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Security would not have allowed Ben to keep his pocket knife when he entered it. This should not be confused with his disguising as a janitor, as this happened at a different location (National Archives) earlier in the film.
Factual error: The National Archives room with the Declaration of Independence is actually darker than portrayed in the movie. The lack of light is for the protection of the documents, so that the writing doesn't fade away.
Continuity mistake: When Ben puts his tool belt on the conveyor belt to go through the X-ray machine, we see the gloves are on the left and pointed down while the red, rubber encased plyer handles are approx. in middle leaning slightly to the right and no space between the plyer handles. As we watch the tool belt go through the X-ray machine, the gloves are on the right side with the plyer handles almost directly above the gloves, both handles visible and the rest of the belt all to the left.
Factual error: In the scene under the Trinity Church in New York, on the wall are two metal support beams in the shape of an X. There are bolts and washers securing the beams. Judging by the elevators that are operated by pulleys, there should be wood with square nails in the time period which the underground passage was built. Seeing the total state of disrepair in the underground elevator shaft, it is extremely unlikely that any updates/repairs were made significantly later than the time it was originally built.
Continuity mistake: After Ben And Riley climb down into the smuggler's hole and are scrambling to get away, Ben grabs Riley and throws him through a hatchway. Riley lands in the snow with a wall next to him, on the screen's left side. Right before the blast, Ben dives (is thrown) facedown in the snow next to Riley but the screen is a mirror image of the previous one because the wall is now on the right of the screen and so is Riley.
Continuity mistake: When we first see Dr. Chase's desk there is a Rolodex on the upper left hand side (as she is looking out over her desk). Then when Dr. Chase confirms that the FBI is right, that nobody could steal the Declaration of Independence, we see the Rolodex in the shot between her and Ben. It then disappears until Dr. Chase says, "You're treasure hunters,aren't you?" where it reappears between her and Ben. It not on her desk as Riley says "...owned by Freemasons." but reappears as Dr. Chase says, "Did Bigfoot steal it?"
Continuity mistake: When Abigail runs down the aisle trying to find a hiding place from Shaw and Viktor, she jumps over a small space between some meat display coolers. In that shot the "butcher lady" can be seen behind a large roll of brown paper to the right of the scene. To the left of the space, behind a roll of white paper, is a second butcher. This second butcher is right next to where Abigail lands and is sitting when the first butcher lady says: "If you're not a steak, you don't belong here." But there is no one near Abigail when the camera show her sitting there, talking to the butcher lady.
Factual error: Early in the movie, Charles Carroll, identified as the last survivor of the 55 patriots who signed the Declaration of Independence, is portrayed as a Freemason. Charles Carroll of Maryland was not a member of the Fraternity.
Factual error: Ben uses SuperGlue to show up the fingerprints on the glass that Abigail was holding. Once the fumes develop the prints they appear as being black, but this is incorrect. SuperGlue would actually make them white.
Factual error: In the scene in the Charlotte, the black powder would not burn without creating enormous amounts of thick grey smoke. And the barrels would never have exploded like that. Maybe one or two but never to that degree. More like a succession of explosions.
Factual error: To reveal the invisible ink on the back of the Declaration, Ben and Dr. Chase use pure lemon juice before warming the surface. This is best seen when Chase first test it out on the corner, where the Mason symbol is placed. Lemon juice is in fact also used as invisible ink (that you have to heat to make visible), and this procedure would have ruined anything written on the back of the document.
Continuity mistake: After the Independence Hall chase, Ben tells Abigail & Riley to meet him at the car. When Ben arrives he is confronted by the detective, then placed under arrest, and in the background behind the detective you see Abigail & Riley standing on the sidewalk. In the following shots the positions of Abigail & Riley keep changing.
Factual error: When Ben and Abigail and Riley separate at Independence park Abigail and Riley could not possibly have exited the park and run right into the Reading Terminal Market. Independence park (where the liberty bell is housed) is between 5th and 7th and Walnut Streets, and Reading Terminal Market (where Abigail hides from the bald man) is at 12th and Arch street. At least 15 blocks apart.
Continuity mistake: When Riley and Abigail are running through the tunnel, trying to get away from Shaw and Viktor, we see Riley running into people and getting knocked around and held up. We see a lady in a red suit go by and then there are two men in suits, the one closest to the camera has a medium brown suit on, over the collar salt and pepper hair and glasses whilst the man farthest from the camera has a medium gray/blue suit on and very short brown hair. The next shot shows Riley trying to go between these two men only now, the one nearest the camera has a very dark charcoal suit on, short white hair and no glasses whilst the other man is wearing a black suit, has greyish brown hair and is much older than before.
Continuity mistake: Ben stirs a solution to make the campaign button fluorescent and tests the solution. He dips two fingers into the solution, rubs them against his thumb, then draws a smiley face on the tabletop. When he shines the UV light on the tabletop, there's a small, compact smiley face. But if you watch Ben very closely as he is making the smiley face, he draws the eyes much farther apart and he starts the mouth of the face between the eyes. The one he actually draws is not the one that is shown.
Continuity mistake: When Ian abducts Abigail, you see some one shoot at Ben and hit the hood of his van twice, but in another shot you do not see any bullet holes.
Revealing mistake: When Ben, Abigail, and Riley are fleeing the National Archives, the window on the driver's side has been shattered by a gunshot. Although they are driving at high speeds, no wind seems to be entering the van to mess up their hair.
Continuity mistake: This has to do with Ben getting Abigail's fingerprints off the champagne glass. When he hands her the champagne glass, her fingers are positioned on the lower half of the glass. Later, when Ben "takes" her thumbprint off the glass, he takes it from a much higher part of the glass.
Continuity mistake: When Ben is taking the screws out of the case that holds the Declaration of Independence, the first screw we see him removing is the one in the little "compartment" with an extra little rod across. There are three little compartments with this extra rod across and he is removing the screw from the left-most compartment. Next we see him removing the screw from the compartment just to the left of the previous compartment, but that screw is now back in place. The next time we see him removing a screw, it is again, one compartment to the left and again, the compartment to the right, the one he just removed the screw from, is back in place.
Answer: He doesn't simply assume "Beneath Parkington Lane" means beneath the church: Parkington Lane is the name etched on the tomb hiding the entrance to the tunnels. When he saw it, he naturally deduced what he had to do.
Sereenie