OK, that's what I was trying to answer in the second option I gave. Based on my experience with the PTO, if you submitted prior art for general consideration, it would simply be returned to you or maybe discarded. There is no system in place to process and vet "loose" information. Everything submitted needs to be directed at an application file.

It would be cool if there was a database people could contribute to, but in theory the Examiner should be able to find this stuff in their prior art searches anyway.