At the beginning of the episode one of the children plays football in a Manchester United T-Shirt. This football team is based in Manchester, UK where O'Neill and Soufan travel to in this episode.
The events of the 1993 battle in Mogadishu between the US and Somali fighters - Black Hawk Down - are mentioned.
Operation Infinite Reach took place on August 20, 1998.
When talking about Ali Soufan, John O'Neill says that they should listen to him, that he is a prophet. This could be a nod to Tahar Rahim's breakout role, playing the main character in the movie "A Prophet".