This science-fiction movie was "suggested" by the 1953 non-fiction book "Flying Saucers From Outer Space" by retired U.S. Marine Corps Maj. Donald E. Keyhoe, who believed that certain aerial phenomena were interplanetary in origin.
The supposed satellite launches are actually stock footage of Viking rockets, high-altitude probes that were the predecessors of the Vanguard, intended to be the first satellite launcher. The later shots of rockets crashing at takeoff are really German V-2s, since none of the first 12 Vikings ever failed. Ironically, the 13th Viking, now called Vanguard, blew up on the launch pad, just like in the movie.
One of the scenes of a saucer attacking jets is actually based on footage of an air show crash.
Tim Burton, a huge Ray Harryhausen fan, recreated the destruction of Washington as a tribute in his movie Mars Attacks! (1996)
The scene of a "destroyer" blowing up is actually stock footage of the sinking of HMS Barham, which occurred on 25 November 1941. To not upset the British public, the Royal Navy decided to withhold an announcement until later; however, in late November 1941 a Scottish medium, Helen Duncan, who had heard of the sinking through a friend, disclosed the sinking during a seance. She was eventually tried under the British Witchcraft Act, the last person before it was repealed.