the buzz log

Unfortunately for those who really, really want to believe, the wait continues.

Researchers presented evidence today of a large, shaggy (and dead) creature they claim is Bigfoot. Two of the men say they found the mysterious beast in the north Georgia woods and stashed it in a freezer. Though the bold duo had claimed they would present DNA evidence, photographs, and video to prove they did indeed nab the big guy, early reports say the hunters "didn't reveal much."

Even before the press conference convened, experts and bloggers alike expressed their doubts about the evidence. In a cheeky post on CNET, one writer described the "soupcon of skepticism" surrounding the find. Scientific American acted more, well, scientific and called up a noted Bigfoot investigator. He left no doubt that he thinks the whole story stinks.

LiveScience.com, meanwhile, quickly pointed out that this isn't the first time that Tom Biscardi, a researcher brought in to verify the alleged beast, has claimed to possess incontrovertible evidence of the furtive goliath.

Skepticism aside, it's been awhile since we've seen a story ignite on the Web like this one. Searches for "latest bigfoot sightings" rose more than 6,000% over the last two days alone. Interest in "bigfoot" soared 1,630%, landing the query at the top of our fastest movers. Searchers with a more suspicious bend propelled queries for "real bigfoot pictures" (+2,589%) and "real bigfoot" (+2,853%) skyward. And that's just the beginning.

More than 115 distinct queries bombarded the Search box yesterday, each hoping to uncover some fresh look at the Bigfoot conundrum. Among the lookups sniffing for clues: Bigfoot body, body photo, capture, captured, carcass, caught, corpse, dead, discovery, dna, find, freezer, hoax, killed, news, photos, remains, shot, sighting, tracker, and video. Whew.

If nothing else, these Georgia hunters know how to whip up buzz. Whether there's a real body behind the hubbub—or just an elaborately tricked-out ape costume—remains to be seen.