When Jodi first hears the spaceship she climbs out of bed with bare feet and then walks outside. Once outside she has shoes on.
During the pursuit of the purse snatchers, the small yellow car is seen close behind the brown car and braking (the front end drops) as the brown car avoided the criminal's car. In the subsequent shot, the yellow car is further back and is not braking, and then is launched over the brown car.
As a traffic agency, the CHP does not handle burglaries to stores or purse snatches.
Police officers do not wear tinted glasses at night.
Immediately before Jodi's stolen car crashes into and through the delivery van, a POV angle is used, and there's nothing in front of the van that would cause the car to jump the way it does. How did the car get airborne by crashing into the side of a van?
According to the clock shown after the initial appearance of Poncherello and Nelson, it is about 2:05 AM. The CHP night shift for motorcycles was 2PM to 10PM, so neither officer would have been on duty at that hour.
While Baker and Poncherello and later Poncherello and Nelson riding in pairs was explained as training/probation, Grossman and Linahan were shown riding together on patrol, a practice not used by the CHP.
The UFO sound effect is obviously a helicopter.
In close-up shots while officers were riding and talking, they were riding partial motorcycles carried on a trailer for filming. In their opening riding scene as Poncherello and Nelson are talking, the noise from the trailer can be heard when it goes over a bump in the road. This was not edited out prior to airing.
While Ponch is waiting in Jodi's living room for her to get her mother, he notices something strange on the desk in the next room. Later, Jodi's mother closes the door. It is never explained what the weird object is.
Jodi, Poncherello, and Nelson are shown at the supposed alien landing site. Both officers are wearing their riding gloves, indicating they rode their motorcycles to the scene, but they would not transport an 11 year old child via motorcycle. This is repeated later when Jodi leaves Poncherello's apartment and somehow ends up at the site on foot while Poncherello and Nelson arrive in a car.
Unless it was cut out of this. version, there was no setup for the ending regarding the chain letters that didn't get sent.
At the supposed alien landing site, Poncherello says the grass area has been burned, and Nelson adds it could be due to a grass fire. There is no grass present, only damp/discolored soil.