Indonesia: Object found in sea thought to be an angel turns out to be a sex doll

A fisherman from remote Indonesian islands who found what he believed to be an angel floating in the sea had actually found an inflatable sex doll. Police went to the Banggai islands in Sulawesi province after hearing rumours that a "bidadari", or spirit, had been discovered by a fisherman called Pardin and taken back to Kalupapi village where he lived.

Images posted online showed a demure female figure dressed modestly in a hijab by Pardin's mother which he took on boat trips. It was pointed out that the figure appeared a day after a solar eclipse, which is a deeply spiritual event in this part of the archipelago. However police quickly realised what it was and confiscated the sex doll from Pardin in case its presence spread unrest, AFP reported.

"We were hearing many stories, such as that the 'fallen angel' was crying when she was discovered," said police chief Heru Pramukarno."When our officers arrived they saw that the 'fallen angel' was just a doll, it was a sex toy." Pramukarno said he believes local villagers - no doubt a little deflated - would have no idea what the doll was for. "They have no internet, they don't know what a sex toy is."

How the sex doll ended up floating in the sea is a mystery, though one possibility is that it fell off a passing ship.

This is not the first time a sex doll has caused confusion. In China in 2012 police launched a rescue bid after seeing what they thought was a girl floating in a river, only to find an inflatable woman. Also in 2012 a Chinese TV station had to apologise after running a story about a farmer who found what he thought was a giant precious lingzhi mushroom in a well. Viewers identified the "mushroom" as a silicone sex toy.