Searching for UFOs

By Bryon OkadaStar-Telegram Staff Writer

Seems a lot of people went UFO-crazy last week.

OK, it didn't top the Hannah Montana-to-Miley Cyrus midconcert switcheroo involving a body double, or the death of actor Brad Renfro, but the Erath County UFO craze topped everything else on the Internet last week.

In the week ending Saturday, "UFO photos" was the No. 3 fastest-moving search term used on all Web sites, according to New York-based Hitwise, an online measurement company that ranks search terms based on relative change.

Among news and media sites, "UFO sightings" was No. 4 of all searches in the U.S. "Texas UFO" was No. 5 and "UFO and Texas" was No. 9.

"Obviously, search term behavior is a good indicator of what's on people's minds," said Matt Tatham, Hitwise media relations manager.

And, of course, it was one of the most-read stories at www.star-telegram.com last week, too.