Sightings of a rare daylight "fireball" - thought to be a meteor - was seen flashing over the Wisbech skies.

A meteor which has passed through Earth's atmosphere is known as a meteorite, and experts say pieces of the space rock could now be scattered across a Fenland field.

It was spotted by Jimmy Greenwood, who was driving along the A47 just outside Wisbech at about 1.15pm on Saturday. The 45-year-old, from Upwell, said: "I've never seen anything like it. It was about four houses high and burning white. It went straight across quickly, into a field and disappeared. It had a vapour trail. It was unbelievable."

Dr John Mason, acting director of the British Astronomical Association's meteor section, said: "Such sightings are rare since few fireballs are bright enough to be visible in broad daylight. Sightings have so far been received from observers in South Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and Norfolk, but it's likely that the event would have been visible across most of the East Midlands and Eastern England."

Chairman of the Peterborough Astronomical Society Martin Hall said: "It's exciting, especially as it might have landed."

The Society of Popular Astrology's (SPA) internet forum was later buzzing with people's accounts of the sighting.

Assistant meteor director at the SPA David Entwistle, said: "What people have seen is a bright, fast- moving light in the sky - a meteor. It is very unusual to have a daylight meteor. If we get a collection of reports from people, we can try to triangulate the path of the meteor and if it landed, work out where."

Mr Entwistle is urging anyone who witnessed the fireball to e-mail the time of the event, the altitude, location and its appearance to either len.entwisle@btopenworld.com or radiometeor@popastro.com