Something Was Throwing Souvenirs Across a Warehouse

Alvin Laubheim had finally had enough of the broken glasses. On January 12, 1967, he took his two shipping clerks into the warehouse and carefully showed them how to stack the merchandise. He placed drinking glasses at least eight inches from the edge of a shelf, far enough back that they couldn’t simply slide off.

He walked away, and another glass fell and broke. Both employees were standing more than fifteen feet from it.

This had been going on for weeks at Tropication Arts, a souvenir wholesaler in Miami, Florida. Laubheim was losing merchandise almost every day, and things were about to get considerably worse.

The Warehouse Was Becoming a Disaster

Tropication Arts supplied the usual Florida souvenirs to tourist shops. Its shelves were filled with beer mugs, drinking glasses, novelty ashtrays, back scratchers and other inexpensive gifts.

In December 1966, employees began noticing merchandise falling from the shelves. At first, Laubheim blamed careless handling by his shipping clerks, Julio Vasquez and Curt Hagemeyer.

But the breakages kept increasing. Boxes tipped over, glasses shattered and merchandise landed in the middle of aisles where nobody had been working.

One day, a large carton containing about a hundred back scratchers overturned with a tremendous crash. Other objects seemed to move while employees were watching them.

Laubheim became so frustrated that he called the police.

The Police Tried Shaking the Shelves

Patrolman William Killin arrived on January 14 and walked through the warehouse while Laubheim and Julio remained near the entrance. As Killin returned, a glass suddenly fell and shattered. A little later, he watched two boxes sitting beneath a shelving rack tip over into the aisle.

More officers arrived, along with a police sergeant. They examined the shelves and deliberately shook them to see whether vibrations could knock merchandise loose. Nothing happened.

The officers also considered whether traffic or other movement outside the building might explain the breakages. But the objects didn’t behave the way they expected, and some appeared to move while everyone nearby was standing still.

Insurance agent William Drucker had visited the previous day. He examined the shelving and found it sturdy, but before he left, he heard a loud thud and discovered two tied boxes lying in an aisle. After checking where everyone had been standing, Drucker concluded that Julio couldn’t have moved them.

Even a Magician Couldn’t Find the Trick

Laubheim also asked his friend Howard Brookes, a professional magician, to investigate. If somebody was secretly pulling strings or using hidden equipment, Brookes was a good person to find it.

On his first visit, he saw nothing unusual. He even played a practical joke on the employees by secretly tossing an object, demonstrating how easily someone could be fooled.

But when he returned a few days later, Brookes witnessed two cartons fall while people were watching the aisle from opposite ends. The boxes landed together, one resting on top of the other.

He examined the area and couldn’t find any wires, strings or hidden devices. Other visitors reported similar experiences. Pilot Sinclair Buntin watched a box fall at an unusual angle, then put it back on its shelf. A few minutes later, it fell again.

The warehouse was becoming a popular place for people curious enough to see the strange activity themselves.

A Young Employee Drew the Investigators’ Attention

On January 19, paranormal investigator William Roll arrived at Tropication Arts. His colleague Gaither Pratt later joined him, and the two began studying the disturbances. They noticed that one employee seemed to be present whenever the activity was especially strong.

Julio Vasquez was a 19-year-old Cuban refugee working as a shipping clerk. He spent his days packing orders, carrying merchandise and moving around the warehouse.

Roll began watching him closely. On several occasions, objects fell while Julio was facing another direction or working with both hands.

The activity was becoming remarkably frequent. On January 23 alone, investigators recorded 52 separate incidents.

One involved a box of drinking glasses that had been packed and secured to prevent it from opening. According to Laubheim, the entire box somehow traveled across the room and landed upside down, smashing its contents. The carton weighed around fifteen pounds and had moved approximately 24 feet.

The Alligator Ashtray Did Something Impossible

On January 26, Roll arranged a small experiment using an alligator-shaped ashtray. It was placed on a shelf in an area where objects had been moving.

A cowbell stood directly in front of it. If the ashtray slid forward, it would have to strike the bell before reaching the edge.

Later that afternoon, Julio became involved in an argument with another employee. They were discussing an attempt by Julio’s girlfriend’s father to perform a religious ritual to stop the disturbances.

Roll was looking directly at Julio when the ashtray suddenly crashed to the floor behind him. The cowbell hadn’t moved.

Roll examined the shelf and found the arrangement exactly as he had left it, apart from the missing ashtray. He couldn’t understand how it could have reached the floor without hitting the bell.

Julio appeared unusually pleased by what had happened. When Roll asked about his reaction, Julio admitted that the breakages sometimes made him feel happy, although he couldn’t explain why.

Julio Had Been Going Through a Difficult Time

As Roll got to know Julio, he discovered that the young man had been struggling with problems in his personal life. Julio had experienced frightening nightmares and difficulties with his family.

He had moved out of the family home shortly before the disturbances began and was carrying a great deal of anger and frustration. Roll wondered whether those feelings were somehow connected to what was happening.

He believed certain poltergeist cases might involve unconscious bursts of mental energy, capable of moving objects without the person realizing what they were doing. He called his theory recurrent spontaneous psychokinesis.

Julio made some strange comments during the investigation. At one point, he admitted becoming nervous when nothing unusual happened.

On another occasion, he told Roll that he actually missed the activity when it stopped. The young man who had initially seemed frightened by the disturbances had developed a complicated relationship with them.

A Newspaper Claimed Julio Had Confessed

Toward the end of January, somebody broke into the warehouse and stole a few valuables. Suspicion fell on Julio, although the owners didn’t press charges.

A police sergeant later told newspaper reporters that Julio had confessed to causing the strange incidents as well. According to the officer, he had used hidden threads and carefully balanced merchandise so vibrations from aircraft flying overhead would knock things down. The accusation made its way into the newspapers.

But Julio insisted he had never confessed to anything of the kind. Laubheim arranged a meeting so the young employee could confront the sergeant directly.

Julio accused the officer of inventing the confession.

According to Laubheim, the sergeant turned bright red and said nothing.