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The man who foiled a Yemen-based al-Qaeda "underwear bomb" plot is reported to have been a British man of Middle Eastern origin, according to US media.
UK officials declined to comment on the reports, but earlier this week the US said foreign agencies were involved in the operation.
The agent was sent by al-Qaeda to attack a US-bound plane, but left Yemen and gave the device to US intelligence.
The US insists the bomb never posed a threat to the public.
Western passport-holders have long been seen as prime targets for militant groups seeking to plan attacks.
However, as well as reporting that the secret agent was a British citizen, NBC News in the US also says UK intelligence agencies were "heavily involved" in his recruitment.
The agent is now reported to be safe in Saudi Arabia while FBI analysts in the US study the device.
The BBC's Paul Adams, in Washington, says it is unorthodox for intelligence agencies to disclose details about each others' operations.
If true, the revelations about the undercover agent could raise eyebrows in UK intelligence agencies, he adds.'Custom fit'
Details of the operation have emerged over the course of this week.
US intelligence learned in April of a plot by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), based in Yemen.
The group planned to attack a US-bound plane with a sophisticated bomb hidden in a passenger's underwear, an updated version of a 2009 device that evaded airport security.
Officials have described the bomb as a "custom fit" device that would have been hard to detect in airport security checks.
It was said to have two forms of detonator and no metal parts, making it more sophisticated than the device that failed to explode on Christmas Day 2009.
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