Oracle9i/AIX5.2: multiple sys (sysdba) passwords Question

Fellow Oracle users:

I am running Oracle 9.2.0.2 on AIX 5.2.

I did

rm $ORACLE_HOME/dbs/orapw

Thereafter I did, as the oracle:dba AIX user:

orapwd file=$ORACLE_HOME/dbs/orapw password=changed entries=30

(the orapwd command executed OK, no error returned), and I can authenticate not only by running:

sqlplus sys/"changed as sysdba"

but with some other passwords.

How is this possible? (Shouldn't the password "changed" be unique and the only one for sys (as sysdba)?

Any light on this issue will be greatly appreciated.

Best,

1. Fuentes 512-297-9937