5. The First Nuke (Independence Day)
When Captain Steven Hiller causes an alien craft to crash, he subdues the injured alien pilot and is rescued by Russell Casse who is traveling across the desert with a group of refugees. Together, they take the alien to nearby Area 51, where the President of the United States - Thomas J. Whitmore - and his remaining staff have also recently just arrived. Area 51 conceals a top-secret facility housing a repaired old model of the alien crafts and three alien bodies recovered from Roswell in 1947. When Area 51 scientist Dr. Brackish Okun attempts to autopsy the recently captured alien, it regains consciousness and attempts to escape. When it is questioned by President Whitmore, it reveals that its species travel to planets, destroy all life on them and harvest the natural resources before moving on. The alien attempts a psychic attack against Whitmore, but is killed by his guards. Having learned of their plans, Whitmore orders a nuclear attack on the gigantic alien destroyer crafts. The first attack is assumed to have destroyed its target but, when the dust clears, it is revealed that it had failed to penetrate its forcefield - it had completely no-sold a nuke - and the remaining strikes are aborted.