While I am sort of open-minded about UFO's; myself & family having seen one for real with 10 X 50's bino's, it behaved like no helo' or later rocket / SR71 I've ever heard of !
Plus the subsequent definitely suspect cover story - PM me if interested - this Lightning seems a pretty clear tragic accident; the canopy slammed shut after the crash.
Wasn't there a similar story of a USAF pilot Captain Mantell supposedly 'beamed up' from his Starfighter ?
I do go with certain personal theories, such as 'why did 'Foo Fighters' appear just when we released atomic weapons ?- historians from the future for all we know - , but I don't go for ideas of abducting pilots - It would seem obvious that any technology able to create interstallar ( or time travel ) craft wouldn't be too intrigued by early Mach 2 fighters unless for a museum !
Sympathies to all the families, enough to go through without the B.S.
D.Z.