The Beretta 92FS appears in the film in the hands of U.S. Secret Service agents and U.S. military personnel. USAF Major Mitchell (Adam Baldwin) along with Secret Service agents can be seen volley-firing them to kill an alien as it is telepathically attacking President Thomas J. Whitmore (Bill Pullman). In another scene, Major Mitchell fires one at a captured alien fighter when David Levinson (Jeff Goldblum) is demonstrating the computer virus he designed to neutralize the aliens' technology, the first shot ricocheting off the fighters' shields and the second shot hitting a Coke can placed on the hull of the fighter when David uploads the virus. A Beretta 92FS can also be seen in a graphic on a TV news broadcast asking Los Angeles residents not to fire on the spacecraft for fear of starting an interstellar war.
Error creating thumbnail: File missingBeretta 92FS - 9x19mmError creating thumbnail: File missingUSAF Major Mitchell (Adam Baldwin) along with a Secret Service agent volley fire at an Alien with their Beretta 92FS handguns. USMC Gen. William Grey (Robert Loggia) uses a 92SB as noted by its rounded trigger guard. Also note the Secret Service agent close to the camera, who is using a cup-and-saucer grip on his gun. Real agents are trained in weapons handling and surely wouldn't use this grip.Error creating thumbnail: File missingUSAF Major Mitchell fires the Beretta 92FS borrowed from a SF at a coke can on the Alien SpaceCraft.Error creating thumbnail: File missingA Beretta 92FS being used in a graphic on a local TV news broadcast, which warns the citizens of Los Angeles to not use their guns to shoot at the alien ships overhead.
Beretta 92SB
USMC General William Grey (Robert Loggia) uses a Beretta 92SB to shoot an alien that is telepathically attacking President Thomas J. Whitmore (Bill Pullman). Due to a continuity error, Mitchell's (Adam Baldwin) Beretta changes from a 92FS to the older 92SB when he finishes off the alien with three shots. The pistol is distinguished from the 92FS by its rounded trigger guard.
When David Levinson goes to pick up his father Julius Levinson (Judd Hirsch) in New York City, Julius comes to the door brandishing a Double-Barreled Shotgun, thinking David is one of the many looters running rampant as a result of the panic created by the aliens' arrival. Interestingly, the weapon makes a pump-action cocking sound when Julius first raises it.
In several scenes, U.S. military personnel at Area 51 can be seen with Heckler & Koch HK94A3s mocked up as Heckler & Koch MP5A3s (identifiable by the lack of paddle mag release and barrel lugs), notably when Captain Steven Hiller (Will Smith) arrives at Area 51 with an alien fighter pilot he captured, and following President Whitmore's "Independence Day" speech prior to the final battle, waving the weapons in the air and cheering.
U.S. military personnel can be seen carrying M16A2 rifles in several scenes, most notably during the attacks on Marine Corps Air Station El Toro and Area 51.
The M61 Vulcan appears in the film as the secondary armament of USMC F/A-18 Hornets and USAF F-16 Falcons. As with all the human weapons, they are largely ineffective against the aliens' defenses, but prove more than capable once the aliens' shields are disabled. The production didn't receive support from the US Department of Defense, so in many scenes, the jets seen were either full-size non-flying mockups or created with computer-generated effects.