His mother gave the 'angel' a fresh change of clothes and new Muslim headscarf to wear every day and pictures showed it sitting up in a chair and accompanying locals on a boat trip.
News spread like wildfire and soon locals were caught up in the frenzy.
The discovery in March came a day after a solar eclipse swept across the area, a deeply spiritual experience in the world's most populous Muslim-majority country.
This led superstitious locals to believe the two events were linked.
Police decided to investigate after becoming concerned the increasing excitement about the 'angel' could lead to unrest - and soon punctured the theory.
'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.'
The problem, it seemed, was the remoteness of Kalupapi.
'They have no Internet, they don't know what a sex toy is.'
After investigating, officers confiscated the doll and took it to the local police station, a move they said was intended to stop false rumours from spreading.