Unsolved Mystery was a fan fiction based on the mythology of the TV series Sliders but featuring entirely original characters. It began as a simple joke post by the user known as "spindoctor" on the now-defunct Universal Studios Sliders NetForum on Dec. 16, 1996. User "Lexie" took him up on the joke, and after several posts in character, they realized that they were on to something. They switched from first-person comments to a prose third-person narrative. Eventually, others joined the story, and the characters called themselves "Rifters" to differentiate themselves from the original sliding group.