BLUFF, Utah – Things were a bit strange in this corner of Utah Saturday.

About high noon there was a circular rainbow in the center of the sky. A handful of men loitered on the ground, never letting go of their rifles, pointing them in cars as they searched for dangerous criminals.

And every major broadcast news organization in the country was here: CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox. Most major regional newspapers were here, too: The Denver Post, Rocky Mountain News, Albuquerque Journal, The Salt Lake Tribune. So was the Associated Press. Reporters, photographers and cameramen bustled around, tripped over cords and elevated their voices to be heard over the constant hum of the portable generators of TV trucks.

They were in and out of about 10 satellite trucks and countless cars. The broadcasters went back and forth to 15 cameras. Tourists took their photographs.

Some reporters arrived immediately after the May 29 shooting of Cortez police officer Dale Claxton and two deputies. Others arrived after the shooting of a fourth deputy Thursday and the apparent suicide of one of the three suspects. On Saturday, the manhunt seemed to be the top story just about everywhere in the country.

CNN reporter Tony Clark, based in Dallas, was in Denver last week covering the Terry Nichols sentencing before traveling to Bluff Friday to be part of the second crew CNN has dispatched to report on the manhunt.

Clark has visited Mesa Verde and Arches national parks. CNN doesn’t often go to Utah, he said. The last story he did in Utah was earlier this year on the Mormons in Salt Lake City.

Victor Cooper, a cameraman for CBS who also is based in Dallas, has a second home outside Park City, a resort east of Salt Lake City. CBS also has dispatched two crews to the Four Corners.