I did a quick calculation. Based on a diameter of 17 miles across, to cast a shadow that reached the ground, Nightfall would have had to be less than 2000 miles away. If it was moving at 30,000 mph (as the script says) then it would have hit (or missed) the Earth approximately 4 minutes after everyone saw the shadow.
This is one of the reasons that Bev continuously tells me to stop analyzing the so-called science when we watch tv or movies.
You know, Bob, I'm the same way. I don't mind if there's a reasonable amount of
Handwaving and
Techno Babble if that moves the story along, avoids tedious exposition, or sets up something important.
But I don't like it when stuff is *obviously* stupid or impossible. That really messes up my
Willing Suspension of Disbelief .
