the buzz log

Call it the change in season or the chill in the air. Call it the time of year when the human mind turns to unexplained phenomena. Whatever the reason, demand for mysterious "sightings" has stolen upwards in Buzz. In the past week, fearless searchers scanned the Web for evidence of extraterrestrial visitors, otherworldly callers, and one American Idol. Here's how the queries lined up in popularity...

Some notes...

–The truth is out there—and it's shaped like a saucer. UFOs dominate the "sightings" galaxy. Other unidentified flying queries whooshing through Search this week include "haitian ufo sightings," "ufo sightings 2007," "latest ufo sightings," and "recent ufo sightings."

–Why "moonsighting" at #7 and not "moon sightings"? Rather than seeking general glimpses of the Moon, this popular query  tracks one specific destination—moonsighting.com. The web site helps Muslims to determine the "start of Islamic months based on possibility of crescent sighting."

–Dermot Mulroney (#13) and Taylor Hicks (#14)? We have no idea how this unlikely pair vaulted into a list of supernatural phenomena and mythical creatures. But we congratulate them for outranking demons, angels, and the Man of Steel.

–No Nessie? Though "real loch ness monster sightings" did surge recently, the Scottish beastie still doesn't draw enough search interest to appear in our top 20 list. Sorry, sea serpent...