145-year-old Indonesian man's age doubted by expert

Mbah Gotho, from Sragen district in Indonesia's Central Java province, says he was born in 1870 and has an identity card to prove it.

But Robert Young from the Gerontology Research Group says that Gotho's age is "fiction."

"It belongs in the same category as Sasquatch (Bigfoot), the Yeti, and the Loch Ness Monster," Young told dpa. "Unbelievable."

Young says that when people claim to be over 120 years old, his research shows that this is false in 100 per cent of cases.

For people who claim to be 115 or older, they are proven to be wrong 98per cent of the time.

But in an interview from his small village home with local news website Detik.com, Gotho says that he has survived his four wives and four children and siblings.

"I'm the only one who's still alive," Gotho told the website.

He now spends his days sitting and smoking, which is his favourite pastime, he says.

He has had trouble walking and hearing for a year, but still manages to walk to a nearby store to buy matches, said 50-year-old Suryanto, one of his grandchildren. Asked about his secret to longevity, Gotho said: "Be patient and accepting. Don't be too ambitious."

- DPA