The incident happened Thursday near Holme upon Spalding Moor, a town of 3,000 people in East Yorkshire, a ministry spokesman told AFP.

"The USAF have recovered the bomb," he said, adding that an investigation was under way.

On its website, BBC News said the F-15, a supersonic fighter, was based at RAF Lakenheath, a major US air base in the east of England.

WAR.WIRE