"In the ensuing media storm, McKay said the Japanese based petroleum company Idemitsu was flooded with emails and he was taken off the rig," Fairfax Media reported.

"He is now unemployed and disappointed his efforts at reporting potentially vital information turned into such a circus."

The 55-year-old New Zealander has reportedly worked in the oil and gas industry for more than three decades.

‘‘I was only trying to privately help,'' he told Fairfax Media.

‘‘If it was the aeroplane I saw then it must have been an external fire. How far would an aeroplane stay in the air after such a fire?''

Police sources reportedly confirmed that his sighting was being taken seriously.

The three-month search effort for the missing Boeing 777 is still focusing on the remote Indian Ocean.