Independence Day

For those who haven't read the plaque, we'll read the plaque.

"Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the moon."

"July 1969."

"We came in peace for all mankind."

If this isn't an insanely beautiful woman, I'm hanging up.

Sir, I think you should listen to this.

Agh!

- Goddamn it! - Sir?

Sir?

Come on, baby, come on, baby, come on!

This better not be another damn Russian spy job!

Boys at air traffic say the skies are clear.

It's the real thing.

A radio signal from another world.

Let's not jump the gun here.

Get online with Space Command. They're gonna want to know...

What's with the golf balls? You're gonna kill me here!

Wait, this can't be right.

The calculated distance from source...

...is only 375,000km.

It's coming from the moon.

- (Grey) Who else knows about this? - S.E.T.I. in New Mexico identified a signal.

But, uh... they're even more confused than we are, sir.

Excuse me.

- Major! - Yes, sir.

Radar reception has been impaired...

...but we were able to get these.

We estimate that it has a diameter of over 550km...

...and a mass roughly one fourth the size of our moon.

What the hell is it?

- A meteor? - No, sir.

- No, definitely not. - How do you know?

Well, sir, it's slowing down.

- It's what? - It's, uh...

It's slowing down, sir.

Get me the Secretary of Defense.

Then wake him!

- Hello. - (Marilyn) Hi.

- It's me. - Hi.

- What time is it there? - It's 2:45 in the morning.

- I know I didn't wake you. - As a matter of fact, you did.

Liar.

I have a confession to make.

I'm sleeping next to a beautiful, young brunette.

You didn't let her stay up all night watching TV?

- Did you? - Of course not.

- You're coming home after the luncheon? - Yes, yes.

- Mommy? - Here's your mother.

- Hi, honey! - Hi, I miss you.

President Whitmore's approval ratings have slipped below 40 percent.

He's good.

Are the salad days over for President Whitmore?

Leadership as a Gulf War pilot is different from leadership in politics.

Daddy let me watch Letterman.

- Traitor. - They elected a warrior and got a wimp.

- Morning, George. - Morning, Mr. President.

That game couldn't have been pretty.

Thank you, sir.

Connie, you're up awfully early this morning.

They're not attacking your policies. They're attacking your age.

"Whitmore seems less like the president...

...and more like the orphaned child Oliver asking, 'Please, sir, I'd like some more.'"

- That's clever. - Well, I'm not laughing.

Age was never an issue when you stuck to your guns.

You were thought of as young, idealistic...

Now... the message has gotten lost.

It's just too much politics. It's too much compromise.

Isn't it amazing how quickly everyone can turn against you?

It's a fine line between standing behind a principle and hiding behind one.

You can tolerate a little compromise...

...if you're actually managing to get something accomplished.

Well...

The Orange County Dispatch has voted you one of the 10 sexiest men of the year.

That's...

That's accomplishing something!

Mr. President, it's the secretary of defense.

Yes.

Could... you say that again?

Temperature is 95° in Central Park...

Let's go to Nick Jones and get us a travel report for the beaches...

So why are you waiting, hmm?

My Social Security will expire, you'll still be sitting there.

- I'm thinking. - Yeah, well, think already!

Do you know how long it takes for those cups to decompose?

If you don't move soon, I'll start to decompose.

Ah!

Listen, David, I've been meaning to talk with you.

- It's nice that you see me so much now... - Don't start, Dad.

It's been... what? Four years? You're still wearing a wedding band?

- Three years. - All right, three... four.

You're divorced, move on. This is not healthy.

No, this is not healthy. The smoking is not healthy.

- Checkmate. - Wait a minute.

Wait a minute, wait a minute.

- Wait a minute. This is not checkmate. - See you tomorrow, Pop.

Just hold on! This is not checkmate.

Oh... Checkmate!

We've got everybody we have working on the problem.

Yeah, I love X-Files, too. I hope you get to see it.

David! David!

What's the point in having a beeper if you don't turn it on?

It was turned on. I was ignoring you.

What's the... What's the big emergency?

It started this morning. Every station's making like it's the 1950s.

We got static, snow, all kinds of distortions.

- Marty. - Nobody knows...

There's a reason we have bins labeled "Recycle"!

What the hell is going on? My God in heaven!

So sue me. David! We got a problem!

Did you switch transponder channels?

Oh, please! You think I'd be this panicked if it was so simple?

Okay, let's point the dish at another satellite.

We tried that. It didn't work.

It's almost as though they weren't there.

All right. What have we got here?

This is impossible.

We created a race of robots. Their function is to...

- (Troy) The signal's all screwed up. - Stop it! Just leave it alone. You'll break it!

Oh, it's so fuzzy.

Oh, no.

Good morning, Lucas.

You see these? I got a whole goddamn crop full of these.

If your father's not in the air in 20 minutes...

...I'm getting someone else.

- Russell! - Hey, Miguel!

Agh!

Whoo!

Ya-hoo!

Russell! What are you doing?

Just what in the hell do you think you're doing?

Whoa!

It's the wrong field, you idiot!

Lucas's farm's on the other side of town!

Are you sure?

CNS is running a story that we're covering up a nuclear-testing experiment.

They can run with it if they want to embarrass themselves.

NASA wants to know our position.

Our official position is...

...we have no official position.

- Connie! - What is going on here?

Guys, would I keep you out of the loop?

- Yes. - Absolutely.

What? I can't hear you.

At the moment our satellites are somewhat unreliable.

Isn't it possible that this thing may just pass us by?

What if it doesn't pass us by?

Why don't we target some ICBMs to blow it up?

And risk turning one dangerous falling object into many?

We don't yet know enough to make any kind of intelligent judgments.

Luckily the press is making up their own story for now.

But that's not gonna keep.

- We may need to upgrade to DEFCON 3. - Absolutely.

- General, tell NORAD we're on DEFCON 3. - That's not what the president said.

Isn't that a little premature?

We have over 50 percent of the armed forces on weekend leave.

Plus the commanders and troops that are in town for the Fourth of July parade.

The object has settled into a stationary orbit.

- Well, that's good news. - Uh, not really, sir.

Part of it has broken off into nearly three dozen pieces.

Smaller than the whole, sir...

...yet over 15 miles in width themselves.

Where are they heading?

They should enter our atmosphere within the next 25 minutes.

Take us to DEFCON 3.

- Please say we're getting somewhere. - There's good news and bad news.

- All right. What's the bad news? - There's a penalty for disturbing my lunch.

And the good news is you won't charge me.

No. The good news is that the problem is not our equipment.

It's some weird signal embedded in the satellite feed.

And that's the good news?

Yeah. This signal has a sequential pattern, so once I find the exact binary sequence...

...I can calculate the phase reversal and apply it.

We should be able to block it out.

And then we'll be the only guys in town with a clear picture!

Yes! Yes! Yes! Oh, David! That's why I love you!

Oh! That's not necessary.

Too kind.

- This had better be good. - Admiral on deck!

Sir, we're looking at a total radar blackout over a 13km area.

- Let's do a diagnostic check. - Excuse me, sir.

The radar may be malfunctioning, but the infrared is totally off the map.

Jeez!

Get me Atlantic Command.

Hang on, sir.

Sir, we have visual range with incoming over Iraqi air space.

- Second sighting? - Yes, sir. Just came in from the Persian Gulf.

Correction, sir.

We have two confirmed visual contacts.

Mr. President, they're tracking another one off the California coastline!

All right, put it on. General, you might wanna watch this.

Ladies and gentlemen, we are interrupting our regular broadcast...

...to bring you extraordinary events taking place in the Russian Republic.

This unexplained disturbance and the resulting hysteria are incredible.

How would you describe what you are seeing?

It is clearing the mountains, moving too slowly...

...to be a comet or meteor.

Widespread panic has gripped the countryside...

...as thousands have taken to the streets.

It is confirmed. The unexplained phenomenon is headed for Moscow.

Mr. President, we have an AWAC off the West Coast.