There have even been reports of people searching for fragments of the meteorite to be worn as amulets.

“[Javanese people] believe meteorites have supernatural powers and people in the past incorporate fragments of meteorites into the pamor of kris blades in order to boost their personal powers,” an expert in the  paranormal, Permadi, told The Jakarta Post recently.

Pamor, or the pattern welded into blades, demonstrates the skill of the craftsman making the kris as well as the power of the blade.

The meteorite that fell to earth in Duren Sawit reportedly burnt up on impact with the three houses, leaving no trace. This, however, has not stopped residents rummaging the nearby area.

Jakartans, and Indonesians in general, cling to a lot of superstitious beliefs that predate contemporary religion.

The hunt for heavenly fragments is just the latest example of this.

Many Jakartans avoid allegedly haunted areas, such as an infamous house in Pondok Indah and the Casablanca underpass, both in South Jakarta.

Recently in a housing area in Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta, residents were amazed by the apparent capture of a tuyul (a mischievous spirit).

Hundreds flocked to the house where the spirit had allegedly been caught, hoping to catch a glimpse of it.  

For Javanese people, Permadi said, all phenomena could be explained in reference with primbon, a Javanese mystical horoscope, which explains almost all phenomena and their impacts people’s lives.

“Take lunar eclipses, for example. There is detailed explanation on that and its effects of the life of the people depending on what day it happens,” he said.

However, soothsayer Ki Gendeng Pamungkas, disagreed.

“There is nothing extraordinary about falling meteorites or unusual bananas. It’s nothing to do with the ‘supernatural’,” he said.

His reference to bananas pertains to hearsay among residents of a banana growing from a banana tree in Menteng Jaya, Central Jakarta, that had already been chopped down.

He said that such phenomena were simply anomalies of nature.

He attributed mystical things to interpretations of dreams that somehow relate to the lives of real people.

Sociologist from the University of Indonesia Fransiska Eri Seda said the tendency to relate scientifically explainable natural phenomena to supernatural incidences was a sign changes going on in society.

“People are now experiencing great social shift from traditional society to modern one. They are half traditional and half modern,” Eri told the Post.

Under such conditions, she said, people tend to explain things in a way that gives them psychological comfort, including by linking any natural phenomenon with their own lives.

“I don’t think this is worrisome. People will stop the habit [of attributing natural phenomena to the supernatural] as they become better educated,” she said.

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