Over 700 mystery contest entries arrived at U.S. News via snail mail and our online forum. Entries involving Atlantis, aliens, or conspiracy theories were kept to a minimum, for which we were grateful. Many of you sent in tales of local treasures or baffling rock formations that, while too obscure for a national magazine, were fascinating nonetheless. The Bible racked up the most entries both online and off, while a frisky discussion flourished in the contest forum, sparked by a couple of Mormon mystery postings. Some of you didn't read the issue very carefully–we did write about the Philadelphia Experiment.

Some of the stranger entries were rather original, retrieved from the depths of memory or, in some cases, readers' imaginations. There was Lady Wonder, a clairvoyant horse, and a letter insisting that the parting of the Red Sea is a heavily veiled metaphor–Moses was actually smoking pot. Several of you addressed various local hills where water, balls, or cars set in neutral roll up instead of down. We'll save that for our mysteries of science issue.

The winning mysteries were ones we wished we'd thought of initially. Since some of the winning mysteries had duplicate entries, the person who submitted the mystery first won. Winners will receive a $250 savings bond. Three runners-up will each receive a $100 bond. Check back in late November for original stories on the three winning mysteries. (Click here for the official rules.)

What happened to the crew of the Mary Celeste? The ship was found drifting in the Atlantic in December 1872, empty. The eight crew members and two passengers were never found. Submitted by: Tim Charles (Platteville, Wis.)

What was the Plague of Athens, the cataclysmic fever that swept the city more than 2,400 years ago? Some researchers think it was Ebola, others think it was typhus fever. The epidemic felled hero Pericles and a quarter of the Athenian population within five years. Submitted by: Brian Cox (Princeton, N.J.)

Runners-up

Who was Silverheels, the Colorado dance hall girl who nursed sick miners during a smallpox epidemic in the 1860s, then disappeared? Submitted by: D.V. Earhart (Margate, Fla.)

What caused the massive explosion in Siberia in 1908? The aerial blast occurred near the Tunguska River, flattening around 2,000 km of forest. Submitted by: Edwin Murphy (Arlington, Va.)

The third runner-up will be posted as soon as possible.

1. ENTRY
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. To enter, submit your nomination for an unsolved mystery of history worthy of further investigation by U.S. News. You can submit your nomination by following the directions at U.S. News Online (www.usnews.com) between July 24, 2000, and Aug. 15, 2000, or by sending your submission to:
U.S.News & World Report
Attn: Mysteries
1050 Thomas Jefferson Street, NW
Washington, DC 20007-3837

Mailed entries should include entrant's contact information, including street address and E-mail address, and must be postmarked by midnight, Aug. 15, 2000. All online entries must be received by midnight EST on Aug. 15, 2000. Entries become the property of sponsor and will not be returned. Sponsor assumes no responsibility for lost, incomplete, incorrect, or misdirected entries. Use of a false E-mail account will disqualify an entry. Sponsor is not responsible for hardware or software malfunctions, lost or unavailable network connections, or failed, incorrect, inaccurate, incomplete, garbled, or delayed electronic or other communications. Sponsor, in its sole discretion, can disqualify any person who tampers with the entry process or the operation of the Web site, or who otherwise violates these rules. Sponsor has the right to cancel, terminate, or modify this sweepstakes if it cannot be completed as planned due to computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, technical failures, or other conditions beyond sponsor's control.

2. ELIGIBILITY
This sweepstakes is open to U.S. residents only. Employees of U.S. News, its subsidiaries, affiliates and agencies, and members of the immediate families of such employees are not eligible. Sweepstakes is void where prohibited or restricted by law. All federal, state, and local laws and regulations apply.

3. WINNER SELECTION
Winning entries will be selected by U.S. News editorial staff. To qualify, your nominated mystery of history must be unsolved and must not have been included in the Mysteries of History special issue of U.S. News. Entries must also be free of space aliens, Atlantis, mythical locations and creatures. No conspiracy theories, please. Judges will make their selections based on how compelling the submitted mysteries still are in the year 2000 and on whether they are amenable to further investigation (i.e., whether there are relevant witnesses, documents, or other evidence reasonably available).

4. PRIZES AND WINNER NOTIFICATION
Three first prizes: $250 U.S. savings bond, plus U.S. News will assign a reporter to investigate each of the first prize-winning mysteries and publish the stories on U.S. News Online.
Three runner-up prizes: $100 U.S. savings bond.

Prizes are not transferable. No substitutions for cash or other goods and services are permitted; however, sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to provide substitute prizes of comparable value. All applicable federal, state, and local taxes and fees are not included and are winners' sole responsibility.

Winners will be notified by E-mail or U.S. mail at the address provided upon entry. If the winner cannot be contacted at this address, or is contacted and does not respond within 14 days by signing an Affidavit of Eligibility and Liability/Publicity Release, or refuses or is ineligible to accept a prize, that prize will be forfeited and will be awarded to an alternate winner to be selected by the judges.

5. GENERAL CONDITIONS
Sponsors are not responsible for any failure to contact entrants, whether due to technical or human error. Entrants accept and agree to abide by the terms of these Official Rules. By entering this contest, each entrant consents to the use of his or her submission as the basis for an investigative story to be posted at U.S. News Online, and to the posting of his or her name and hometown at U.S. News Online (if chosen as a winner in this contest) without further notification or compensation, except where prohibited by law.

6. WINNERS LIST
A winners list will be available at U.S. News Online after Sept. 18, 2000, and posted until Dec. 31, 2000, and will also be available by sending a stamped, self-addressed envelope marked "Attn: Mysteries of History/Winners List" to:
U.S.News & World Report
1050 Thomas Jefferson Street, NW
Washington, DC 20007-3837

7. SPONSOR
This sweepstakes is sponsored by:
U.S.News & World Report
1050 Thomas Jefferson Street, NW
Washington, DC 20007-3837