weird behavior: Apache mod rewrite

Hello everyone, this is my first time in this mailing list. Using: PHP Version 5.2.10-2ubuntu6.4, Apache/2.2.12 I'm redirecting all the request into one file with ( .htaccess ): RewriteEngine On RewriteRule .* index.php My index code is: <?php echo $_SERVER["REDIRECT_URL"]; ?> In the same directory I just have other file besides index.php. And depends on how this file is named, I'm getting different values for the same request: Request: /menu.html Filename: menu.html Output: /menu.html Result: OK! Filename: menu.html.bak Output: /menu.html.bak Result: NOT GOOD! Filename: menu.html.whatever.other Output: ERROR 404 (from apache) Result: NOT GOOD! Could someone please explain me why I'm getting this weird behavior? As the request is the same, I expected to display always the same value. Am I'm wrong?? Thank you.