Italian Coast Guard divers searching for a missing American F-16 and its pilot were focusing on Tuesday on waters where a fishing boat found debris believed to belong to the jet, Reuters cited a Coast Guard official as saying.
The debris, including fragments of carbon steel, was found floating in the northern Adriatic overnight, Rear Admiral Francesco Saverio Ferrara said.
The U.S. Air Force said in a statement on Tuesday it was thought to be wreckage from the missing aircraft.
The missing jet took off from Aviano Air Base on a training exercise on Monday evening, and the control tower lost contact with the plane at about 2000 hours.
