All:

All F-16s have emergency beacons on board which are (normally) set to automatically transmit if an ejection is initiated. If the aircraft hit the ground with the ejection seat (and, therefore, the pilot) still in the aircraft, there would be no beacon signal. Even if an ejection occurred, the battery on the beacon has limited life and would stop transmitting within hours of the crash (if everything went perfectly) if the pilot was incapacitated and could not switch the beacon off.

Jets out of Nellis don't fly with live air-to-air ordnance on board the aircraft for local training sorties. There is zero chance one aircraft was shot down by another.

When a fighter hits the ground at high speeds, the wreckage can be in a very small area (a crater no wider than the wingspan of the aircraft, in this case 33 feet) and virtually vaporize all but the most robust parts of the aircraft. Even if they've found the crash site, the Air Force would still require experts on the ground at the crash site to verify that human remains are present, before declaring the pilot dead, rather than missing. They can't make this call without being 100% sure.

Air Force policy requires a 24 hour delay between notification of next of kin and public release of the deceased. We will hear nothing until late tonight at the earliest.

If the pilot survived and is rescued, you will never know his name and the investigation will remain within Air Force safety channels unless the pilot is accused of misconduct and is charged with some kind of violation of Air Force procedures.

I am astonished at the number of posts by paranoid and clueless people who no nothing about the Air Force, Nellis AFB, flying fighters or DoD policy.

There's a good chance a great American has perished while training to defend all of us. $19 million is nothing compared to the loss of a loved one or fellow fighter pilot.

How about just a little respect?